The Westfield News
Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns

www.thewestfieldnews.com
MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2014

VOL. 83 NO. 4

Westfield
NYE
petition
seeks
signatures
By Peter Francis
Staff Writer
WESTFIELD – At Mayor Daniel M.
Knapik’s first coffee hour of 2014 this
morning at Armbrook Village, sponsored
by the Greater Westfield Chamber of
Commerce, an announcement was made
regarding plans for a Westfield New
Year’s celebration to ring in 2015.
Steve Dondley, owner of Prometheus
Communications in Westfield, announced
that he’s sponsoring a petition to get a
New Year’s Eve fireworks celebration
organized in the city’s downtown next
December 31.
“Westfield wants to have cultural
events and make (Westfield) a happenin’
place,” Dondley said. “New years eve,
where can I go in Westfield?”
The idea of throwing a countdown-like
event right below the clock tower downtown intrigued him so much, that he has
started a website, newyearswestfield.
com, to see if city residents would really
like to make this vision a reality for next
New Year’s Eve.
“We’re trying to get 300 confirmed
signatures by July 31,” Dondley said.
“We’ve already got about 125 or so, 96 or
so are confirmed.”
“Right now, it’s just an idea,” he said.
“We’re trying to find out if there’s enough
interest to have the event, so if we get 300
pledging to come and half show up, that’s
pretty good.”
Asked whether he anticipates more
than 300 signatures and/or visitors,
Dondley is optimistic about the potential
turnout.
“You’re going to get a lot more people
interested than have signed the petition,
so if you get 300 people’s signatures,
you’ll get about 300 people there,” he
said.

“Science does

not know
its debt to
imagination.”

— Ralph Waldo
Emerson

75 cents

Cop clears
North Road
larcenies
A flat snow-covered section of pavement, foreground, where the former Southwick
Department of Public Works was razed last week. The building was was removed by
a New Hampshire company. (Photo by Frederick Gore)

Former DPW garage razed
By Hope E. Tremblay
Staff Writer
SOUTHWICK – The Department of
Public Works’ former headquarters has
been leveled.
The dilapidated building has been vacant
for more than two years and finally came
down last week.
Jay-Mor Company of New Hampshire
offered the winning bid of $14,400 for the
work.
Southwick Building and Grounds
Director John Westcott said there were “no
surprises” with the demolition, which took
one day.
“It went as expected,” he said. “Prior to
them coming in we had to disconnect the
power from the building, as well as the
water and sewer.”

The building was an eyesore, Wescott
said. Located behind the police station and
in front of the animal control facility, the
garage was falling apart.
“Everything there is so beautiful now,
and then we had that garage,” Westcott
said. “Now once the salt and sand sheds
are built at the DPW garage (on College
Highway) we will get those down, too.”
Exhaust fans and light fixtures were
removed from the building before demolition, but there was nothing else left that
was salvageable.
“There was really nothing to salvage in
that building,” said Westcott.
The future of the land is still in question.
“A lot of people have a lot of ideas, but
there is no plan yet,” Westcott said.
The former garage was built, Westcott
guessed, sometime in the 1940s.

By Carl E. Hartdegen
Staff Writer
WESTFIELD – A local heroin addict is facing
charges both in Westfield District Court and in
Connecticut after a city detective cleared a series of
air conditioner thefts on North Road.
Det. Brian Freeman reports, in a document filed
in Westfield District Court, that he investigated a
series of crimes in which large central air conditioning units on North Road were ravaged and valuable
parts stolen to be sold as scrap.
Freeman’s report indicates that, in four incidents,
air conditioning systems at the Hampton Ponds
Association, Boun Appetit restaurant and Word of
Grace church valued at more than $27,000 were
destroyed so that electric motors and copper and
aluminum tubing could be sold for hundreds of dollars to a Chicopee salvage yard.
Freeman reports that the first of the crimes
occurred August 9, 2013, at the Hampton Ponds
Association building at 829 North Road when an air
conditioning unit valued at more than $1,000 was
“torn apart” and copper was stolen.
A few days later, on Aug. 21, the owner of the
Buon Appetit restaurant located at 856 North Road
reported that two central air conditioners valued at
$12,000 were stolen.
During his investigation, Freeman was able to
identify a suspect but was unable to gather any evidence against the man nor was he able to pinpoint
See North Road, Page 2

Inaugural
ceremonies
set for today
Contractors from Jay-Mor Company of Pelham, New Hampshire, razed the former
Southwick Department of Public Works building located in the rear of the
Southwick Police Department Monday. (Photo by Frederick Gore)

In the thick of it
The tntersection of College Highway and Feeding Hills Road in Southwick this morning. (Photo by Frederick Gore)

By Dan Moriarty
Staff Writer
WESTFIELD – Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, City
Council and School Committee members were
sworn into office this morning for the 2014-15
municipal term, a ceremony that marks the start of
the third term for Knapik as the city chief executive.
That ceremony also
ushers in the first term of
six City Council members as nearly half of the
city’s legislative branch
begins to adopt to new
responsibilities. The new
council members, Daniel
Allie, Ralph Figy, Cindy
Harris, Brian Hoose,
Robert Paul Sr., and Matt
VanHeynigen,
will
quickly be involved in
council business.
The council typically
meets on the first and
BRENT BEAN II
third Thursday of each
month. The Jan. 2 meeting
was rescheduled to after the
new members were sworn into office and will be
held tonight to begin the new two-year term in
office.
The meeting will be opened by City Clerk Karen
Fanion in the absence of a council president. The
members will select a president pro tempore, who
begins the formal session by taking nominations for
the member who will sit as president for the next
year.
Several councilors, including the most two recent
presidents, Brian Sullivan and Christopher Keefe,
have indicated they have no desire to hold that
office. A number of councilors contacted Sunday
indicated that they plan to support the nomination of
Brent B. Bean II.
“It takes a strong will to do it,” Keefe said. “Brent
is a smart guy. He will be a good president because
he has experience.”
“With six new councilors coming on board it will
See Inaugural Ceremonies, Page 2

Rehab the Right Way

When you’re recovering from an injury, it’s critical that your rehabilitation
program is tailored to your specific needs, allowing you to get back
doing the things you love to do sooner.

Yoga Classes
MONTGOMERY - Grace Hall Memorial Library
is sponsoring yoga classes at the Town Hall, 161
Main Road in Montgomery Wednesday evenings at
6:30. The mixed-level class is taught by Kathy
Niedzielski, CYT, of LifeDance Studios in Westfield,
and is appropriate for most ability levels. The fee is
$10 per class and students should bring their own
mats. For more information contact the Library by
phone at (413) 862-3894 or via Email at montgomerylibrary@yahoo.com.

1792

1783

Russell

Chester

1775

Granville

THE WESTFIELD NEWS

1741

Blandford

HOLYOKE- Regional Community Girl
Scout troops are offered monthly in Holyoke.
Community troops offer a flexible way for
girls to participate in Girl Scouts and are
open to all girls looking for a troop experience. Meetings take place once per month
from November - May from 10 am to noon
at the Girl Scout’s service center, 301 Kelly
Way, Holyoke. No RSVP is necessary. A girl
can join one month or all six. The registration fee is $25 for all. The dates are:
January 18, 10-noon
February 15, 10-noon
March 22, 10-noon
May 17, 10-noon
Traditional Girl Scout activities are offered
including earning badges by exploring the
outdoors, creating an artistic masterpiece,
running a cookie business, helping in your
community and making new friends.

848 North Road reported to Freeman that
two air conditioning units valued at $4,000
had been stolen from outside the church.
On Dec. 28, the same victim reported
that a third unit, valued at 10,000, had also
been stolen.
Freeman reports that his investigation
determined that the previously identified
suspect, Sean O’Malley, had sold electric
motors and copper and aluminum coils to
a Chicopee scrap dealer for $194.48 and
had made several other transactions which
the dealer said matched the description of
items stolen.
Freeman reports he reasoned that, since
all the crime scenes were next to each
other on North Road and since that area
was the only place in the city were such
crimes were occurring, he “focused on
finding Sean O’Malley on Pequot Point
Road which is in walking distance of the
three buildings.”
Freeman also found that O’Malley was
the subject of an extraditable warrant
issued in Connecticut for four charges of
larceny of property valued more than $250
and four charges of malicious destruction
of property.
Freeman’s investigation revealed that
O’Malley has a sister who lives at a
Pequot Point address and he reports that,
when he and Detective Daniel Gustafson
sought the man at her address, he was
found alone in the house.

TUESDAY

Partly sunny.
Windy and cold.

14-18

WEDNESDAY

Mostly sunny.

20-24

WEATHER DISCUSSION
Expect colder air spills into western Massachusetts this afternoon, the mercury will gradually drop and thus, we’ll see some
wet snowflakes mix in with the raindrops. With winds picking up
out of the west overnight, expect the possibility of lake-effect
flurries tonight and Tuesday morning. It’ll be a windy and cold
day across western Massachusetts tomorrow. We’ll have more
sun in the forecast, temperatures will only top out in the teens!

today
7:19 a.m.

4:34 p.m.

9 hours 14 minutes

sunrise

sunsET

lENGTH OF dAY

and admitted that he had stolen from the
local businesses although he said that he
had not known that his most recent theft
was from a church.
At the station, O’Malley, 34, of 76
Pequot Point Road, was booked for four
charges of larceny of property valued
more than $250, four charges of vandalizing property and as a fugitive from justice.
After he was advised of his Miranda
rights, O’Malley agreed to a further interview and explained that in each of the four
thefts he went on foot to the business and
“took the units apart while he was there
and then walked the parts of value across
North Road and threw them over the
guardrail.”
He told Freeman that on the mornings
after the thefts he collected the stolen
items and used his sister’s vehicle to take
them to Chicopee where he sold them to
the scrap dealer.
Freeman reports “O’Malley claimed
that he committed these crimes to supplement his unemployment checks and to
support his heroin habit.”
O’Malley was arraigned on the
Massachusetts charges Thursday in
Westfield District Court before Judge Rita
Koenigs.
Citing O’Malley’s “present drug dependency” and the Connecticut warrant,
Koenigs set bail for O’Malley at $2,500.
He was held pending a Jan. 30 hearing.

LOCAL LOTTERY

Odds & Ends

10-14

Tolland

North Road
New Girl Scout
Continued from Page 1
Freeman said that O’Malley initially
his location learning only that he lived
Community
claimed to have acquired the property he
at a Pequot Pond Road address.
A few days before Christmas, a repre- sold to the scrap dealer at a Connecticut
Troops Commence sentative
of the Word of Grace Church at job site but soon abandoned that position

Continued from Page 1
be crazy,” Keefe said. “He’ll have to appoint support Bean tonight.
members to committees based on reputation and
After the presidential selection, the business of
not personal knowledge of those people. There the council for the year begins with adoption of
will be no hiding in corners for the senior mem- council rules and items remaining in committee
bers who will have to be leaders.”
have to be brought forward to this council.
In addition to Keefe and Sullivan, Ward 6 Members will then draw seats by lottery to decide
Councilor Christopher Crean, and At-large where they will sit for the rest of 2014 before the
Councilor James R. Adams also said they plan to meeting is adjourned.

Mostly cloudy, chance of flurries.

Montgomery

Submit your Around Town News to pressreleases@thewestfieldnews.com

Inaugural Ceremonies

TONIGHT

1780

PennDOT
testing
beet juice
on icy roads
BUTLER, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania
Department of Transportation is experimenting with beet juice as a way to treat icy roads
in especially cold weather.
PennDOT officials tell KDKA-TV (http://
cbsloc.al/1euMZnD ) that chemicals in the
juice are supposed to help road salt melt ice
at lower temperatures. Typically, salt loses
much of its effectiveness below 20 degrees,
but when mixed with beet juice, the salt
reportedly melts ice down to zero or even
below-zero temperatures.
PennDOT experimented with beet juice a
few years ago but officials say a new and
improved version is being tested as part of a
pilot program in Butler County, about 20
miles north of Pittsburgh.
The new beet juice has more sugar in it,
which is supposed to improve its performance.

Today is Monday, Jan. 6, the sixth day of 2014. There are 359 days left in the year.

O

n Jan. 6, 1994, in an incident that shook the
world of figure skating, Nancy Kerrigan was
clubbed on the leg by an assailant at Detroit’s
Cobo Arena; four men, including the ex-husband of
Kerrigan’s rival, Tonya Harding, went to prison for their
roles in the attack. (Harding, who denied knowing about
plans for the attack, received probation after pleading
guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution.)

On this date:
In 1540, England’s King Henry VIII married his fourth wife, Anne of
Cleves. (The marriage lasted about six months.)
In 1759, George Washington and Martha Dandridge Custis were
married in New Kent County, Va.
In 1838, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail gave the first successful public
demonstration of their telegraph, in Morristown, N.J.
In 1912, New Mexico became the 47th state.
In 1919, the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt,
died in Oyster Bay, N.Y., at age 60.
In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his State of the Union
address, outlined a goal of “Four Freedoms”: Freedom of speech and
expression; the freedom of people to worship God in their own way;
freedom from want; freedom from fear.
In 1945, George Herbert Walker Bush married Barbara Pierce in Rye,
N.Y.

In 1950, Britain recognized the Communist government of China.
In 1963, “Oliver!,” Lionel Bart’s musical adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel “Oliver Twist,” opened on Broadway. “Mutual of Omaha’s
Wild Kingdom” premiered on NBC-TV.
In 1974, year-round daylight saving time began in the United States
on a trial basis as a fuel-saving measure in response to the OPEC oil
embargo.
In 1987, the U.S. Senate voted 88-4 to establish an eleven-member
panel to hold public hearings on the Iran-Contra affair.
In 1993, authorities rescued Jennifer Stolpa and her infant son, Clayton, after Jennifer’s husband, James, succeeded in reaching help,
ending the family’s eight-day ordeal after becoming lost in the snowcovered Nevada desert. Jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, 75, died in
Englewood, N.J.; ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev died in suburban
Paris at age 54.

Ten years ago:
Thirteen children and two adults were killed in Afghanistan’s southern
Kandahar province by a time-bomb concealed in an apple cart on a
street regularly used by U.S. military patrols. A design consisting of
two reflecting pools and a paved stone field was chosen for the World
Trade Center memorial in New York. Mijailo Mijailovic confessed to
the fatal stabbing of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh in Sept.
2003. Hitting star Paul Molitor and reliever Dennis Eckersley were
elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Five years ago:
Congress opened for business at the dawn of a new Democratic era
with vows to fix the crisis-ridden economy; Republicans pledged co-

operation in Congress as well as with President-elect Barack Obama
— to a point. Obama vowed to “bring a long-overdue sense of responsibility and accountability to Washington” and called the need for
budget reform “an absolute necessity.” Cheryl Holdridge, one of the
original Mouseketeers on “The Mickey Mouse Club,” died in Santa
Monica, Calif., at age 64.

One year ago:
President Barack Obama returned to Washington after a winter vacation in Hawaii that was interrupted by the “fiscal cliff” crisis. In his first
public speech in six months, a defiant Syrian President Bashar Assad
rallied a cheering crowd to fight the uprising against his authoritarian
rule, dismissing any chance of dialogue with what he called “murderous criminals.” The NHL and the players’ association agreed on a
tentative pact to end a 113-day lockout.

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In 2014, voters to decide slew of contests
STEVE LeBLANC
Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts voters who trekked to the
voting booth in 2013 won’t get much of a respite in 2014, with
a slew of contested races on the ballot.
One of the most anticipated, and crowded, races is the open
contest for governor.
Already five Democrats, two Republicans, and two independent candidates are vying for the seat held by Democratic Gov.
Deval Patrick, who isn’t seeking re-election.
On the GOP side, the top candidate is former Harvard
Pilgrim Health Care CEO Charlie Baker, a veteran of the
administrations of former Republican governors William Weld
and Paul Cellucci.
Baker, who failed to unseat Patrick four years ago, has promised to run a more upbeat campaign, highlighting what he’s
called the “sunny” side of his personality. Shrewsbury business
owner Mark Fisher is also seeking the Republican nomination.
On the Democratic side, two candidates — Attorney General
Martha Coakley and state Treasurer Steve Grossman — are
considered among the top tier.
Coakley has a strong political organization, having run a
series of successful campaigns, including twice for attorney
general and twice for Middlesex district attorney.
She has to convince the state’s Democratic faithful that she’s
shaken off her loss to Republican former U.S. Sen. Scott
Brown in a special 2010 election to fill the seat held for nearly
half a century by the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy.
Although he’s in his first term in elected office, Grossman
has deep ties to Democratic activists after having served as the
head of both the state and national parties. He’s also already
amassed a hefty campaign bank account.
Like Coakley, Grossman hasn’t won every race, including an
unsuccessful campaign for governor in 2002.
Three other Democratic challengers are hoping to break out
of the pack: Newton pediatrician Don Berwick; former federal
Homeland Security official Juliette Kayyem; and former
Wellesley Selectman Joseph Avellone.
Two independents also are gubernatorial hopefuls — Jeffrey
McCormick, the founder of the venture capital investment firm
Saturn Partners, and Newton resident Evan Falchuk, who’s running under the self-styled United Independent Party label.
Candidates are eyeing other open races, including contests
for attorney general, treasurer and lieutenant governor, to fill
the seats being vacated by Coakley, Grossman and former Lt.
Gov. Tim Murray. No Democratic challengers are expected for
incumbent state Secretary William Galvin or state auditor
Suzanne Bump.
On the Democratic side, former state Sen. Warren Tolman,
former top Coakley deputy Maura Healey and Clinton state
Rep. Harold Naughton are hoping to replace Coakley as attorney general. No Republicans have jumped in the race yet.
For state treasurer, the former Democratic head of the
Brookline Board of Selectmen, Deborah Goldberg, has
announced her candidacy. Fellow Democratic state Sen. Barry
Finegold of Andover and Wayland state Rep. Thomas Conroy
are also weighing a bid for Grossman’s seat.
For lieutenant governor, four Democratic candidates are
seeking the party nomination: Steve Kerrigan, a former
Lancaster selectman and chief of staff to former Attorney
General Thomas Reilly; Mike Lake, president of Leading
Cities, a network of businesses, municipal governments and
universities; Whately Selectman Jonathan Edwards; and
Holliston resident James Arena-DeRosa.
On the Republican side, former state Rep. Karyn Polito has
teamed with Baker to run as a ticket, though Polito will have to

IN BRIEF

Westfield GED
Program Announces
Spring Classes
WESTFIELD -Westfield
Community Education (WCE),
an area community youth and
adult, alternative evening education program of Domus Inc.
will be holding an “Open
Registration Night” on
January 14 at the Westfield
Athenaeum beginning at
5:30pm
in
the
Lang
Auditorium. Candidates will
complete paperwork and take
an assessment. Classes are 30
weeks in length and begin
January 21. Three levels of
classes are offered in addition
to a Computer Literacy and
Career Development course
which are available to all residents of Greater Westfield.
Classes are free with a small
charge for the text To date this
year, 44 area residents have
received their high school
equivalency diploma through
WCE. For more information,
contact 568-1044 or go to
www.westfield-ged.org
Sustaining support for WCE
is provided by The Beveridge
Family Foundation, the City of
Westfield CDBG, the Westfield
Athenaeum, Westfield Bank
Future Fund, Easthampton
Savings Bank, Kiwanis Club
of Westfield, First Niagara
Bank, Shurtleff Children’s
Services, Western Mass
Hospital, Berkshire Bank, and
Babson Capital.

run separately during the primary.
Every member of the state’s all-Democratic U.S. House
delegation is up for election this year, as is every member of
the Massachusetts House and Senate.
One of the most closely watched races will be Democratic
U.S. Rep. John Tierney’s re-election campaign. Former
Republican state Sen. Richard Tisei, who narrowly lost a 2012
bid to unseat Tierney, is looking at another run, as are two
Democrats — immigration attorney Marisa DeFranco and
Salem resident Seth Moulton.
Democratic U.S. Rep. William Keating is facing a challenge
from Republican John Chapman, a former administration official for Gov. Mitt Romney.
One of the biggest questions this election year is whether
U.S. Sen. Edward Markey will have a challenger when he
faces election to a full six-year term. The Democrat won a
special election in 2013 to fill out the rest of John Kerry’s term
after Kerry resigned to become secretary of state.
No Democrats are expected to run against Markey. On the
Republican side, Gabriel Gomez, who lost to Markey in the
special election, has been mentioned as a possible challenger,
though no GOP candidate has officially entered the fray.

Government Meetings
NEXT SCHEDULED MEETINGs

MONDAY, JANUARY 6
WESTFIELD

Westfield City Council inauguration
South Middle School, 9:30 a.m.
Westfield City Council meeting,
City Council Chambers, Room 207,
Municipal Bldg., 7 p.m.

TOLLAND
Men’s Coffee at PSC Building at 7:45 am
Council on Aging Meeting at 9 am
Board of Selectmen at 5 am

CHESTER
Selectmen at 6 pm

Westfield DPW Notice
The Public Works Department will start picking up
Christmas trees on Monday, January 6, 2014. It will be
picked up on the same day as your regular refuse collection, so please have it by your tree belt on that day.

At HCC we expect our grads to go places. That’s why we
have transfer agreements with public and private colleges
and universities both near and far. What sets us apart?
• Caring faculty
• Small class size
• 100+ degree options
• On campus and online
www.hcc.edu
REGISTER NOW! CLASSES BEGIN JANUARY 27 • WWW.HCC.EDU

The Roots of Obama’s
Minimum-Wage Gamble
Is a progressive crusade finally going
mainstream—or is the president
just playing clever politics?
By JASON ZENGERLE
Politico.com
After the birthers, the most resilient—and virulent—conspiracy theorists of the Obama era have been those who fear
that the president is some sort of left-wing Manchurian candidate, sent by the ghost of Saul Alinsky, the famed community
organizer, to sabotage the capitalist order from inside the White
House and drag the United States into socialism. “We know
that Barack Hussein Obama is a disciple of none other than
Saul Alinsky, one who personally thanked Lucifer,” the
Christian rocker and right-wing radio host Bradley Dean
recently wrote. Or, as Newt Gingrich put it during his 2012
presidential campaign: “I believe in the Constitution; I believe
in the Federalist Papers. Obama believes in Saul Alinsky and
secular European socialist bureaucracy.” Their theories, not
surprisingly, leave something to be desired when it comes to
any actual evidence.
But now that the Obama administration plans to make raising
the federal minimum wage, from its current $7.25 an hour to
$10.10, a centerpiece of Democrats’ 2014 midterm election
efforts, the conspiracy theorists are presumably greeting the
news with glee. After all, the history of the living wage movement over the last two decades, and its crusade to significantly
raise the minimum wage, is populated by a who’s who of rightwing boogeymen—from ACORN, the community-organizing
outfit that conservatives successfully hounded out of business
four years ago, to the Industrial Areas Foundation, which
Alinsky himself founded in 1940, some 30 years before he
wrote his famous (or, to conservatives, infamous) book Rules
for Radicals.
But, conspiracy theorists notwithstanding, Barack Obama’s
sudden embrace of a minimum wage boost is very likely a
shrewd political move. To start, it has the potential to make life
difficult for Republican politicians, who will have to decide
whether to oppose a minimum wage hike, angering the 64 percent of independents and 57 percent of Republicans who
according to a recent poll support it, or get behind it themselves
and anger their backers in the business community who overwhelmingly oppose it. What’s more, a White House-backed
push on the issue could help drive to the polls in November a
slew of Democratic-leaning minority and youth voters who
typically wouldn’t turn out for nonpresidential elections, especially in several states that will hold ballot measures on whether to raise their state minimum wages.
What remains unclear, though, is whether Obama’s new alliance with the activists in the living wage movement is simply
a political tactic geared toward the 2014 midterms or the sign
of a more lasting partnership. Will 2014 mark the moment
when their issue went from niche cause celebre célèbre to a
pillar of national Democratic politics?
The living wage movement began in the early 1990s, when
pastors in Baltimore started to notice something curious happening. An increasing number of the people showing up for
food or lodging at the city’s church-affiliated soup kitchens and
homeless shelters had full-time jobs; they just weren’t making
enough money from them to provide for themselves or their
families. Working with local unions, the pastors—most of
whom were affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation, a
national community organizing group that does much of its
work through churches—successfully pressured Baltimore’s
city council in 1994 to require any company receiving public
money for service contracts to pay its workers at least $6.10 an
hour rather than the federal minimum wage of $4.25.
The $6.10 figure was called “a living wage”—a term that
dates back to the labor unrest of the late 19th century but more
recently came to be defined as hourly earnings that would keep
a family of three or four above the poverty line—and the
Baltimore campaign soon begat similar successful living wage
movements in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago,
and New York. Although each city’s campaign was run by local
groups, many of them relied on the technical support of
ACORN, which had been conducting economic justice campaigns since the early ‘70s. It was a young ACORN staffer, Jen
Kern, who founded the group’s Living Wage Resource Center,
which came to serve as a central clearinghouse for the movement. The assistance ACORN provided was multifaceted—
from helping the local groups determine what a living wage
was in their particular cities to writing the actual ordinances
that were proposed to cultivating community support. “We
were able to create a ‘take this out of the box and do it’ set of
practices to run a successful campaign,” says Kern.
Indeed, since 1994, more than 130 cities and counties have
passed living wage ordinances, according to Stephanie Luce, a
CUNY professor and the author of Fighting for a Living Wage.
And in that time, the living wage movement has become a
veritable mainstay of lefty, grassroots politics—not as glitzy
and therefore noticeable as the movements supporting, say,
immigrant rights or gun control but, in terms of legal victories,
far more consequential. “It’s been one of the most successful
progressive movements of the last 20 years,” Luce told me.
And yet the movement has arguably failed in a big way to
See Minimum Wage, Page 8

Administration faces tough fight on contraception cases
By Josh Gerstein
Politico.com
As a new round of religion-based
challenges to President Barack Obama’s
health care law head to the Supreme
Court, advocates on both sides of the
issue say the administration’s arguments
are likely facing a chilly reception.
On Friday, the Obama administration
urged the court to reject a plea from an
order of nuns who say a provision of
Obamacare conflicts with their opposition to birth control.
Already, the Supreme Court is preparing to hear two cases filed by private
companies who say contraception provisions in the law violate their firms’ rights
to religious freedom.
Together, the cases could recreate a
broad left-right coalition on the court
that has emerged in the past decade to
defend religious rights against alleged
government intrusions.
“I wouldn’t be betting on the government winning,” said Michael McConnell,
a former federal appeals court judge who
favors granting broad religious exemptions. “I would say that the government
has an uphill battle.”
A legal expert who has argued for a
broad government right to enforce government policies like anti-discrimination
laws agrees: the cases — both the immediate battle involving nonprofit nursing
homes operated by the Little Sisters of
the Poor, and the pending ones featuring
for-profit companies Hobby Lobby and
Conestoga Wood Specialties — will be
tough fights.
“When I look at these cases, I’m not
really sure there’s one vote to start with
on the side of the government,” said
Leslie Griffin, a law professor at the
University of Las Vegas.
Experts pointed to two religious freedom cases the court has decided in the
past decade, both of which wound up as
abject defeats for the government.
In 2006, the court ruled, 8-0, in favor

of a New Mexico based church which
wanted to use a sacramental tea containing a banned hallucinogen. And last
year, the court ruled 9-0 in the case of a
Lutheran Church employee that the
Constitution bars the government from
enforcing employment laws on behalf of
anyone the church considers a minister.
At one time, conservatives on the
court tended to side with the government
in free-exercise fights. “Some of the
conservatives — including, especially
Justice Scalia…have not been sympathetic to religious exemptions from general laws,” noted Cornell Law Professor
Michael Dorf.
Scalia’s 1990 opinion upholding the
government’s power to penalize an individual for using peyote — even when
used in a religious ritual — triggered a
strongly negative political reaction from
the right and the left. That led to the passage in 1993 of the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act, a federal law that made
it tougher for the government to take
actions that intrude on religious practice.
The left-right coalition persists to this
day and can now be seen from time to
time on the high court.
“Democrats like minority religions
because they’re minorities and
Republicans like them because they’re
religions,” Dorf said. “The problem is
when you’re not asking for a small
exception to a law nobody really cares
about anyway, like one forbidding peyote use, but one about people paying their
taxes.”
Since the passage of the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act, Scalia and
some of the other conservative justices
have seemed more open to religious
claims. “He thinks the Constitution
doesn’t require a religious exemption of
its own force, but all of them seem perfectly happy to find exemptions based
on RFRA,” Dorf added.
With scant indications of how relative
newcomers to the court like Elena Kagan

think about these issues, some are looking for clues earlier in the justices’ lives
and careers.
When Kagan worked in the Clinton
White House, she wrote an internal
memo decrying the California Supreme
Court’s narrow interpretation of the
Religious Freedom Restoration Act. She
called “quite outrageous” an opinion
denying a landlord’s claim that her religious beliefs were burdened by a state
law that forced her to rent apartments to
unmarried couples. “Taken seriously,
this kind of reasoning could strip RFRA
of any real meaning,” she warned.
“It does suggest she is not likely to
accept the government’s argument that
for-profit businesses are categorically
unable to raise a free-exercise claim,”
McConnell said, while noting that the
1996 memo might not correctly capture
her present views on the subject.
McConnell also remembers Kagan
being receptive to religious freedom
arguments in her days as lawyer and
domestic policy adviser for President
Bill Clinton. “I do recall that those of us
interested in enforcement of RFRA had
reason to believe she was our friend and
advocate within the White House,” said
McConnell, now a professor at Stanford
Law School.
Still, some conservatives expect the
liberal justices to rally to the defense of
the administration and Obamacare.
“My guess is the hard line Kagan took
when in the White House Counsel’s
Office is not going to hold for the other
justices on that side of the bench,” said
John Eastman of Chapman Law School.
“They’re going to say Hobby Lobby is a
corporation and doesn’t have religious
freedom rights…I suspect at least four
votes on the Supreme Court to take that
position.”
Another unknown here is how the
justices’ own religious views could color
See Supreme Court, Page 8

Chuck Schumer: Rand Paul ‘insulting’ on unemployment
By Burgess Everett
Politico.com
Rand Paul’s position on unemployment is “insulting” to
American workers, Sen. Chuck Schumer said on Sunday afternoon after appearing with Paul on ABC’s“This Week.”
On the Sunday morning show, Paul (R-Ky.) said that while
he’s not against unemployment insurance as a concept, he said
long-term benefits can eventually provide “some disincentive to
work.”
“Many of our Republican colleagues say: ‘Oh, unemployment
benefits keep people from work.’ That is insulting,” Schumer
(D-N.Y.) said in a Senate Democratic conference call ahead of a
Monday vote on a proposal to extend now-expired benefits. Paul
“said it’s bad for American workers. That is insulting to
American workers because they want to work.”
Schumer and Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jeanne Shaheen
(D-N.H.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) told reporters they are
optimistic they will be able to scrounge up five GOP senators to
break a filibuster of their bill on Monday, which would offer
three more months of unemployment benefits to the estimated
1.3 million Americans who were knocked off the benefit rolls in
late December.
Thus far, Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) has cosponsored Reed’s
three-month extension, and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has
indicated she supports the bill, leaving plenty of work for
Democrats in the next 24 hours to convince Republicans from
states with high levels of unemployment to back the legislation.
That task got a bit more difficult on Sunday afternoon as dealmaking Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) joined a growing
group of Republicans from states with high unemployment who
appear likely to vote against the bill Monday.
“I will not vote to bring this legislation to the floor unless
senators have an opportunity to debate and vote on the many

good ideas for helping unemployed Americans find a job,”
Alexander said in a statement to POLITICO.
As a condition to supporting the bill, most Republicans prefer to find a way to pay for its $6.5 billion price tag, which
Senate Democrats are open to doing as part of a larger restructuring of the unemployment program. But Democrats believe
an immediate pay-for is unnecessary due to the emergency
nature of the extension they are pushing, though Schumer said
he’d be open to killing some corporate tax breaks to companies
that outsource jobs.
If Democrats fail to rally 60 votes Monday to extend benefits, don’t expect them to abandon Reed’s bill any time soon.

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John Kerry: U.S. to help Iraq
JERUSALEM (AP) —
Secretary of State John Kerry
said Sunday that the United
States will support Iraq’s fight
against Al-Qaeda-linked forces that have overrun two cities,
but won’t send in American
troops.
Kerry said the militants are
trying to destabilize the region
and undermine a democratic
process in Iraq, and that the
U.S. is in contact with tribal
leaders in Anbar province who
are standing up to the terrorists.
But, he said, “this is a fight
that belongs to the Iraqis. That
is exactly what the president
and the world decided some
time ago when we left Iraq, so
we are not obviously contemplating returning. We are not
contemplating putting boots on
the ground. This is their fight.
… We will help them in their
fight, but this fight, in the end,
they will have to win and I am
confident they can.”
Al-Qaeda-linked gunmen
have largely taken over the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi in
an uprising that has been a
blow to the Shiite-led government of Iraqi Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki. Bombings in
the Iraqi capital, Baghdad,
killed at least 20 people
Sunday.
Anbar, a vast desert area on
the borders with Syria and
Jordan, was the heartland of
the Sunni insurgency that rose
up against American troops
and the Iraqi government after
the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that
toppled Saddam Hussein.
In 2004, insurgents in
Fallujah killed four American
security contractors, hanging
their burned bodies from a
bridge. Ramadi and other cities have remained battlegrounds as sectarian bloodshed
has mounted, with Shiite militias killing Sunnis.
“We are very, very concerned about the efforts of Al
Qaeda and the Islamic State of
Iraq in the Levant, which is
affiliated with Al Qaeda, who
are trying to assert their authority not just in Iraq, but in
Syria,” Kerry said.
“These are the most dangerous players in that region.
Their barbarism against the
civilians in Ramadi and
Fallujah and against Iraqi
security forces is on display
for everyone in the world to
see.”
Kerry made the comments
as he left Jerusalem for talks
with leaders in Jordan and
Saudi Arabia about his Mideast
peace-making efforts after
three days of lengthy meetings
with Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu.
Kerry said some progress
was made in what he described
as “very serious, very intensive conversations,” but key
hurdles are yet to be overcome.
His talks with Jordan’s King
Abdullah II and Foreign
Minister Nasser Judeh covered
the peace process, Syria and
Iraq.
After his short stay in
Amman, Kerry flew to Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, and then took a
30-minute helicopter ride to
King Abdullah’s desert palace.
The Saudi leader developed
an initiative in 2002 in which
the Arab world offered comprehensive peace with Israel in
exchange for a full pullout
from all territories it captured
in the 1967 Mideast war.
The initiative, revolutionary
when it was introduced, has
been endorsed by the Arab
League and, technically,
remains in effect.
“Saudi Arabia’s initiative
holds out the prospect that if
the parties could arrive at a
peaceful resolution, you could
instantaneously have peace

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between the 22 Arab nations
and 35 Muslim nations, all of
whom have said they will
recognize Israel if peace is
achieved,” Kerry said.
“Imagine how that changes
the dynamics of travel, of
business, of education, of
opportunity in this region, of
stability. Imagine what peace
could mean for trade and
tourism, what it could mean
for developing technology
and talent, for job opportunities for the younger generation, for generations in all of
these countries,” Kerry said.
Kerry said after his meeting
with the Saudi leader that the
king said he supported
Kerry’s peace efforts and the
Abdullah’s initiative “has
been part of the framework
that we’ve been piecing
together - both in inspiration
and substance.”
Kerry, who arrived in the
region Thursday, is trying to
nudge Abbas and Netanyahu
closer to a peace pact that
would establish a Palestinian
state alongside Israel.
The talks have entered an
intense phase aimed at getting

the two sides to agree on a
framework and provide guidance toward a final settlement. Reaching a deal on that
framework is not expected on
this trip, Kerry’s 10th to the
region for peace talks.
On another issue roiling the
Middle East, Kerry did not
dismiss the idea that Iran
could play a constructive role
in finding a resolution to the
civil war in Syria, even if
Tehran is not a full participant
in a conference on Syria this
month in Switzerland.
The U.S. has objected to
Iran’s participation because it
hasn’t publicly endorsed the
principles from an earlier
peace conference that called
for a transitional government
in Syria, and is backing militias, including the Iranianallied Lebanese Hezbollah
group that has aided the
troops of Syrian President
Bashar Assad.
“If Iran doesn’t support
that, it’s difficult to see how
they are going to be a ministerial partner in the process,”
Kerry said.
“Now could they contribute

from the sidelines? Are there
ways for them, conceivably,
to weigh in? … It may be
that there are ways that that
could happen,” Kerry said.

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GM to outfit
Chevy vehicles
with 4G
LAS VEGAS (AP) — GM says it will
start outfitting most Chevrolet vehicles with
4G cellular capabilities in partnership with
AT&T. The technology will let drivers make
phone calls and allow passengers to surf the
Web without burning through the voice and
data limits on their phone plans.
General Motors Co. said at the
International CES gadget show Sunday that
the 2015 model year Chevrolet Corvette,
Impala, Malibu and Volt will be the first to
come equipped with the capabilities this
year, followed by the Equinox, Silverado,
Silverado HD, Spark and Spark EV.
While the hardware will be standard, pricing plans have yet to be announced.
The cellular capability will be integrated
with GM’s OnStar roadside assistance service. OnStar currently costs upward of $199
a year and has more than 6 million subscribers.

Corvette will let
owners record,
share drives
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The 2015 Chevrolet
Corvette will have a new system that lets
owners record their drives and share the
video with friends.
The system uses a windshield-mounted
camera, a microphone and a recorder to
track data. Drivers can edit the videos to
include their speed, location, lap times and
other stats.
The video can be viewed on the Corvette’s
eight-inch color touchscreen when the car is
parked or downloaded to a computer.
Drivers can record up to 13 hours of driving
time.
General Motors developed the system
with Cosworth, a British company that supplies the Corvette racing team’s electronics
system.
GM introduced the system Sunday at the
Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
It didn’t say how much the option will cost.
The 2015 Corvette goes on sale next fall.

Global tech spending
seen slipping in 2014
RYAN NAKASHIMA
AP Business Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Consumer
Electronics Association estimates that global spending on technology will slip 1 percent this year to $1.06 trillion as the lower
average selling price of smartphones and
tablets offsets unit growth in markets like
China.
The decline is off the peak of $1.07 trillion estimated this year.
Steve Koenig, the association’s director
of industry analysis, issued the forecast at
the opening of the annual International CES
gadget show on Sunday.
The retreat doesn’t reflect less consumer
appetite for what Koenig called the “dynamic duo” of tech gadgets. Spending on smartphones and tablets is still expected to
account for some 43 cents of every dollar
spent on technology this year.
But the average price of smartphones, for
example, will fall from $444 in 2010 to an
estimated $297 this year, despite the number of smartphones sold rising to 1.21 billion up from 1.01 billion.
“These lower-end devices are what’s

required to penetrate most deeply into these
emerging markets,” he said.
Smartphones and tablets remain such key
drivers of technology spending that they are
eating into other categories of devices like
point-and-shoot cameras, video cameras,
portable GPS devices and handheld gaming
devices.
However, within other categories of
devices there are a few pockets of growth,
including wearable devices.
Smartwatch sales are expected to be 1.5
million units globally this year, up from 1
million in 2013, said Shawn DuBravac, the
association’s chief economist.
“This is a very nascent market. We’re
still looking for that killer application for
that particular device,” he said.
Ultra HD televisions, which roughly quadruple the number of pixels of a high-definition set, are also seen taking off.
There were 60,000 such sets sold in the
U.S. alone last year, a number expected to
hit 485,000 this year, the association said.
However, that’s still a small number compared to the nearly 40 million TVs sold in
the U.S. each year, DuBravac said.

NJ works to curb sex trafficking before Super Bowl
EAST RUTHERFORD,
N.J. (AP) — Law enforcement agents in New Jersey
have redoubled efforts to
fight what they worry could
be one of the biggest menaces to come with next
month’s Super Bowl: sex
trafficking.
Hundreds of thousands of
visitors are expected to
descend on New Jersey for
the Feb. 2 football game.
Many believe the state’s
sprawling highway system,
proximity to New York City
and diverse population make
it an attractive base of operations for traffickers.
“New Jersey has a huge
trafficking problem,” said
U.S. Rep. Chris Smith,
R-N.J., who is also co-chairman of the House antihuman trafficking caucus.
“One Super Bowl after
another after another has
shown itself to be one of the
largest events in the world
where the cruelty of human
trafficking goes on for sev-

This Dec. 17, 2009, file
photo shows U.S. Rep. Chris
Smith speaking to members
of the media in Rio de
Janeiro. “New Jersey has a
huge trafficking problem,”
said Smith, R-N.J., who is
also co-chairman of the
House anti-human trafficking caucus. (AP Photo/Felipe
Dana, File)

THE WESTFIELD NEWS

In this Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013 photograph, Kathleen Friess gives a presentation on human trafficking in Hamilton Township, N.J., for hotel and nightclub employees and tries to dispel notions
of what human trafficking looks like. Often, Friess said, it’s a local woman forced into sex work
by a man she initially thought had romantic intentions. Officials are training legions of law
enforcement personnel, hospitality workers, high school students and airport employees to watch
for signs of it before the Feb. 2 football game, when hundreds of thousands of people are expected
to descend on New Jersey. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
eral weeks.”
Law enforcement in New
Jersey has worked for years to
battle forced prostitution. The
state strengthened its human
trafficking law in early 2013,
but it hit a roadblock in August
when a federal judge ruled that
a portion of the law that pertains to commercial sex ads
posted online may conflict with
federal legislation. The state is
appealing.
There are scant statistics and
much debate over how much
sex trafficking increases during
a Super Bowl or large sporting
event, but it’s been enough of a
concern to prompt New Jersey
and prior Super Bowl host cities to pay attention to it.
Danielle Douglas, a speaker
and advocate who identifies
herself as a sex trafficking survivor, said any major sporting
event attracts sex traffickers
looking to make money.
“The Super Bowl is a huge,

huge arena for sex trafficking,”
Douglas said. Some visitors
“are coming to the Super Bowl
not even to watch football —
they are coming to the Super
Bowl to have sex with women,
and/or men or children.”
Soon after the announcement
that the 2014 Super Bowl would
be held at MetLife Stadium,
New Jersey officials set up
training for legions of law
enforcement personnel, hospitality workers, high school students, airport employees and
others on signs of sex trafficking. Local houses of worship
are handing out fliers notifying
congregants of warning signs,
and truckers are being trained
to look for people — mostly
women but also men — who
may be held against their will.
Sex trafficking, to be prosecuted as such, must involve —
unlike prostitution — not only a
buyer and seller of sex but also
a pimp or trafficker controlling

the transaction, according to the
New Jersey attorney general’s
office.
Officials are also warning the
public to watch for people who
are forced into labor and individual pimps exerting control
over young women and men
who are oftentimes underage.
“We’ve enlisted, basically,
every service provider that people coming to the Super Bowl
are going to run into,” Acting
Attorney General John J.
Hoffman said. “There are a lot
of eyes that are going to be on
their activities and going to be
on spotting potential victims of
this crime.”
The Super Bowl task force
convened by Hoffman’s office
is comprised of state, local and
federal law enforcement officers, community groups, social
workers and others. Bergen
County Prosecutor John
See Trafficking, Page 7

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Oil
prices recovered Monday on bargain hunting
after a week-long plunge.
Benchmark U.S. oil for February delivery
rose 11 cents to $94.07 in electronic trading at
mid-afternoon Kuala Lumpur time on the New
York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell
$1.48 to settle at $93.96 a barrel on Friday.
Prices have fallen 6.4 percent over the past
week.
Brent crude, used to price international crude
processed by many U.S. refineries, rose 17
cents to $107.06 in London.
Analysts said there are downside risks to oil
prices. The U.S. economic recovery was generally boosted by a massive bond-buying program, and oil demand wasn’t rising as fast as
expected while supplies were sufficient.
On Thursday, protests reportedly ended at
one of Libya’s largest oil fields, which could
allow the field to restart production and deliver
more than 300,000 barrels of daily production
to the global market.
Also, a rising dollar could dent oil prices.
The Fed recently began winding its stimulus
program, which is boosting the value of the
dollar and leading investors away from oil. A
stronger dollar makes commodities such as oil
that are priced in dollars more expensive for
buyers using other currencies.
In other energy futures trading:
— Wholesale gasoline rose 0.4 cent to $2.653
a gallon.
— Natural gas added 7.2 cents to $4.354 per
1,000 cubic feet.
— Heating oil was up 0.9 cent to $2.948 a
gallon.

Nvidia
promotes
new chip
with crop
circle
PETER SVENSSON,
AP Technology Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 310-foot “crop
circle” in a California barley field that mystified locals this week was explained Sunday: it
was a publicity stunt by Nvidia Corp., a maker
of chips for PCs and smartphones.
The crop circle near Chualar, Calif., contained a stylized image of a computer chip and
the number “192” in Braille. On Sunday, the
company announced the Tegra K1, a new chip
for tablets and smartphones that contains 192
computing “cores,” or mini-computers, for
graphics applications.
Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said at a press
conference in Las Vegas, ahead of the
International Consumer Electronics Show,
that he had given his marketing department
the mission to promote the chip on a shoestring budget. The crop circle received wide
attention. Rumors of Santa Clara, Calif.-based
See Nvidia, Page 7

This photo provided by NVIDIA shows a
310-foot “crop circle” in a California barley
field that mystified locals this week was
explained Sunday Jan. 6, 2014: it was a publicity stunt by Nvidia Corp., a maker of chips
for PCs and smartphones. The crop circle
near Chualar, Calif., contained a stylized
image of a computer chip and the number
“192” in Braille. On Sunday, the company
announced the Tegra K1, a new chip for
tablets and smartphones that contains 192
computing “cores,” or mini-computers, for
graphics applications. (AP Photo/NVIDIA)

THE WESTFIELD NEWS

MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2014 - PAGE 7

WWW.THEWESTFIELDNEWS.COM

Swiss central
bank reports
2013 loss
on gold

World stocks
in the red
ahead of US,
China data

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland’s central bank
says it will report a loss of 9 billion Swiss francs
($9.9 billion) for 2013, denying shareholders
and governments of annual profit sharing.
The Swiss National Bank said it lost 15 billion
francs in the value of its gold holdings, but that
was partly offset by a gain of 3 billion francs in
foreign currency and more than 3 billion francs
in profit from selling its stabilization fund that
bailed out Swiss bank UBS AG.
In a statement Monday, the bank said it could
not provide dividends to shareholders or profits
to the Swiss government and 26 cantons (states).
Gold prices fell sharply in 2013 as the U.S.
Federal Reserve wound down an inflation policy
that had driven up gold prices.

EILEEN NG
Associated Press
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — World
markets were mostly in the red Monday, opening
the week on a cautious note ahead of the release
of data from the U.S. and China that will reflect
the pace of growth in the world’s top two economies.
In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 dipped 0.2
percent to 6,717.22 while Germany’s DAX shed
0.2 percent to 9,415.22. France’s CAC-40 was
almost flat at 4,248.29.
Investors are waiting to scrutinize the minutes
of the Federal Reserve’s December meeting
amid expectations it might accelerate the pace of
reducing its monetary stimulus on the back of
rising economic momentum. Manufacturing,
payrolls and trade balance data due this week
will reveal if U.S. economic recovery can be
sustained.
In China, trade, inflation and loans data due
later in the week will color regional sentiment.
Two surveys last week showed manufacturing
activity has weakened in December, which analysts said pointed to a downturn in business
cycle.
“China will be an interesting read this week.
The debate about how China is tracking will
define its 2014 — talk will be about whether the
‘hard landing’ talk of the last four years continues, if the central government is moderating
growth and whether the small steps it has taken
toward a more liberalized, freer trading economy continue in 2014,” said Evan Lucas, market
strategist for IG in Melbourne, Australia.
Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said it was
increasingly clear that China’s growth has
peaked and entering an economic downturn,
which will hurt regional exports.
“When China sneezes, markets worry that the
whole region will catch a cold,” its economist
Dariusz Kowalczyk said in a commentary.
On Wall Street, futures pointed to a weak start.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 0.1
percent while the Dow Jones industrial average
eased 0.01 percent.
Earlier in Asia, China’s benchmark Shanghai
Composite Index tumbled 1.9 percent to
2,043.01, extending losses from last week.
Tokyo’s Nikkei shed 2.4 percent to 15.908.88
and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.6 percent to
22,684.15. Benchmarks in Singapore, Indonesia,
New Zealand and Australia also declined.
However, South Korea’s Kospi bucked the trend
to add 0.4 percent to 1,953.28.
Benchmark oil for February delivery rose 26
cents a barrel to $94.22 in electronic trading on
the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.48 to close at $93.96 on Friday.

Nvidia
Continued from Page 6
Nvidia’s involvement appeared Sunday before
the press conference.
The circle was plowed under a few days after
its discovery.
Tablets are becoming a popular platform for
gaming, undermining Nvidia’s core business of
creating powerful chips that enhance the look of
PC games. It’s had some success with its chips for
mobile gadgets like smartphones and tablets, but
has been overshadowed by Qualcomm Inc.
In the new Tegra K1, the graphics component
based on its “Kepler” design, used in high-end
PCs. The chip would makes for a tablet more
powerful than an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3
game console, while consuming one-twentieth
the power.
“We’ve bridged the gap — we’ve brought
mobile computing to the same level as desktop
computing,” Huang said.
The 192 cores in the new chip compare to
Nvidia’s previous flagship, the Tegra 4, with 72
graphics cores.
Huang demonstrated near photo-realistic simulations of environments and human faces, run on
the new chip. He said Epic Games will adapt the
next version of its Unreal Engine, the basis for
many popular games, so that it will work on the
chip. He didn’t announce when the chip would be
available or any gadget makers that were adopting it.

Trafficking
Continued from Page 6
Molinelli said ads are starting to pop up on
Internet sites and law enforcement officials are
gleaning information from them.
“When you’re about ready to have 400,000
men come to this area of the country,” Molinelli
said, “you’re invariably going to have more
people try to take advantage of that by providing
prostitutes and prostitution.”
Officials in Texas, Louisiana and Indiana
strengthened efforts to combat sex trafficking
ahead of previous Super Bowls. In
Arizona, which will host the 2015 Super
Bowl, U.S. Sen. John McCain’s wife, Cindy, has
been speaking out, calling the Super Bowl the
“largest human-trafficking venue on the planet.”
It is difficult to ascertain the exact number of
trafficking cases in a given year or place because
so much of it goes unreported. In 2012, the
Polaris Project, a nonprofit that works to combat
human trafficking, received 20,652 calls reporting trafficking to its hotline, 330 of which were
from New Jersey, said CEO Bradley Myles.
“The overall size of the phenomenon in the
United States is much more significant than statistics show,” Myles said.
Polaris plans to add additional staffers to the
hotline in February, but the organization has
seen only a modest uptick in calls during previous Super Bowls, Myles said.
In December, Kathleen Friess led a two-hour
presentation in Hamilton Township for hotel and
nightclub employees and tried to dispel notions
of what human trafficking looks like. Often,
Friess said, it’s a local woman forced into sex
work by a man she initially thought had romantic intentions. Other times, it’s a woman from
another country whose family is threatened.
Friess told the employees to look for women
who may not be in control, who look frightened
and may exhibit signs of physical abuse. Victims
are often runaways, the impoverished, abuse
victims or those living in the country illegally,
she said.
“You guys are at that front line, seeing them
coming and going,” Friess said. “You’re in a
position to prevent human trafficking.”
Ronald Moore, the security manager at the
Grand Summit Hotel in Summit, said he plans to
replicate the presentation for his staff. A former
police officer, Moore said the hotel has been
preparing for the possibility of crime during
Super Bowl week.
“You’re going to have the potential for everything from stolen goods to assault to check
fraud. Everything you can imagine is going to be
happening,” he said. “You have to be aware.”
Jane Wells, a filmmaker who recently released
“Tricked,” a documentary about human trafficking, said she wants law enforcement to focus on
the crime all the time, not just around sporting
events.
“This is a 365-day-a-year problem,” Wells
said.

In a Friday, Dec. 27, 2013 file photo, Stanford offensive coordinator Mike
Bloomgren, wearing Google Glass, answers questions from the media during a
news conference, in Los Angeles. Will 2014 be remembered as the year wearable
computing took off? Even with the possibilities these devices offer today, gadget
lovers can expect technology companies to stretch the wearable concept further in
Las Vegas at the International CES event Jan. 7-10, 2014, the industry’s annual
trade show. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Wave of wearable gadgets
expected at CES event
RYAN NAKASHIMA
AP Business Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Will 2014 be
remembered as the year wearable computing took off?
Upstart entrepreneurs and major manufacturers such as Samsung, Qualcomm
and Sony certainly hope so.
Gadgets that you snap, buckle or fasten
to your body are already marketed to fitness freaks obsessed with tracking every
possible metric their bodies produce.
There are countless smartwatches for
tech nerds who’d rather glance at their
wrists to check messages than reach for
their smartphones. And thousands of people are already seeing the world differently with the help of the Internetconnected eyewear, Google Glass.
Even with the possibilities these devices offer today, gadget lovers can expect
technology companies to stretch the
wearable concept further this week in Las
Vegas at the International CES event, the
industry’s annual trade show.
Several companies are expected to
unveil wearable devices that are easier to
use, extend battery life, and tap into the
power of gestures, social networks and
cloud computing.
The wearables wave is still in its early
phases. Many of the technologies on display will offer a glimpse of the future —
not necessarily products that are ready
for the mainstream consumer.
These new gadgets are “like the first
generation of the iPod,” says Gary
Shapiro, chief executive of the Consumer
Electronics Association, the group that
has hosted the trade show since 1967. “It
was bulky and it wasn’t that pretty. Look
what happened. It got slimmer. It got better.”
Industry analysts’ estimates for the
growth of wearables are rosy. Research
firm IHS says the global wearables market — which also includes health products like hearing aids and heart-rate monitors — could top $30 billion in 2018, up
from nearly $10 billion at the end of
2013.
While some of the growth will come
from an aging population that requires
more health-related monitoring at home,
devices like the Fitbit Force activity band
— which tracks a wearer’s steps, calories
burned, sleeping patterns and progress
toward fitness goals — are also expected
to gain popularity as deskbound workers
look for new ways to watch their waistlines.
At this week’s show, companies are
likely to introduce improvements in
wearable screens and battery life, says
Shane Walker, an IHS analyst. The two
are linked because the more a device tries
to do, the more battery power it consumes. This creates demand for innovative low-power screens, but also for ways
to interact with devices that don’t rely on
the screen, such as using hand gestures
and voice.
“With wearable technology, it’s all
about battery consumption,” Walker says.
What’s driving the boom in wearable
device innovation is the recent widespread availability of inexpensive sensors known as microelectromechanical
systems (MEMS). These are tiny components like accelerometers and gyroscopes
that, for instance, make it possible for
smartphones to respond to shaking and
for tablets to double as steering wheels in
video games.
There are also sensors that respond to
pressure, temperature and even blood
sugar. Toronto-based Bionym Inc. will
show off its Nymi wristband at CES. The
gadget verifies a user’s identity by determining his or her unique heartbeat. The
technology could one day supplant the
need for passwords, car keys and wallets.
Waterloo, Ont.-based Thalmic Labs
Inc. plans to show off how its MYO armband can be used as a remote control
device to operate a quadricopter drone.
The band responds to electricity generated in forearm muscles as well as arm
motions and finger gestures.
Co-founder Stephen Lake says the
MYO is more akin to a mouse or keyboard that controls activities than the
latest line of smart wristbands that simply
track them.
“We’ve seen this shift away from traditional computers to mobile devices,”

Lake says. “Our belief is that trend will
continue and we’ll merge closer with
technology and computers. New computer-human interfaces are what can drive
these changes.”
Wearables may not gain broad acceptance until sensors advance to a point
where they can track more sophisticated
bodily functions than heart rate, says
Henry Samueli, co-founder of Broadcom
Corp., the company that makes wireless
connectivity chips for everything from
iPhones to refrigerators. Monitors that
measure blood sugar, for instance, still
require test strips and pin-pricks.
“If you can monitor your blood chemistry with a wearable, now there we’re
talking about something pretty compelling,” Samueli says. “Then I think the
market will take off in a big way.”
Companies are also expected to tweak
the business models for wearable gadgetry as the devices become more mainstream. Fitness-focused wearables could
one day help lower your health-care premiums if your insurer can verify your
exercise regime. Always-on wristbands
that know who you’re with —and their
preferences— could become vehicles for
location-based restaurant advertising.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of
maturity in 2014 in the way companies
think about their business,” says J.P.
Gownder, an analyst with Forrester
Research.
Right now, the market is a swirling
cauldron of ideas and products.
Eventually, a winner may emerge.
Josh Flood, an analyst with ABI
Research, says “the killer app” for a
wearable product with the right mix of
form, function and price “hasn’t been
identified yet.”
Forrester’s Gownder concurs. “It’s a
bit of a hype bubble,” he says. “But so
was the Internet in 1999.”

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Obituaries
Mary L. Conley
AGAWAM - Mary L. (Bent) Conley, 74, died suddenly
Tuesday, December 31, 2013 in Deerfield, MA during a
hiking trip. Mary, the daughter of the late Joseph John
and Catherine Anna (Salisbury) Bent, was born in
Boston, MA.
She graduated from Walpole High
School in Walpole, MA and was a
communicant of St. John the
Evangelist Church in Agawam.
Mary was employed as a bookkeeper
for a total of thirty-five years. Since
retiring in 1999, she was a volunteer
at Noble Hospital and Saint Mary’s
Church in Westfield, MA and at St.
John the Evangelist Church. In 1985 Mary and her husband David fulfilled her dream of visiting Bryce National
Park in Utah which she had seen images of in a View
Master when she was a small child. They went in the
subsequent years to explore most of the western National
Parks and in very interesting state parks. In recent years,
Mary had been active in the Berkshire Chapter of the
Appalachian Mountain Club, especially with the beloved
Tuesday Hikers. She was also a member of the Friends of
Robinson State Park in Agawam. Many of her favorite
moments were when she was cooking and baking for others and tending to her flower gardens. Mary was fortunate
to have shared continuous close friendships for over sixty
years with several of her Walpole schoolmates.
She leaves her beloved husband of sixty years, David
Charles Conley; her dear son, David William Conley and
his wife Teresa Ann Conley of Columbia, SC; her precious daughter, Elizabeth Anne Parker and her husband
Charles Noble Parker of Los Angeles, CA; her revered
sister, Joan Ann MacGray of Largo, FL, and her cherished sister, Katherine Linda Beyer and her partner, Peter
Mignone of Newport, VT. She also leaves many beloved
cousins, nephews and nieces. In addition to her parents,
she was predeceased by a brother, Joseph John Bent, Jr.
who had resided in Nobleboro, ME.
Mary’s Funeral Mass will be Thursday, January 9,
2014 at 11:00 a.m. at St. John the Evangelist Church, 833
Main Street, Agawam. The burial will be in the spring at
St. Mary’s Cemetery in Amsterdam, NY. Family and
friends may gather at Agawam Funeral Home, 184 Main
Street prior to the Mass from 9:00-10:30 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, any memorial donations may be
made to The National Shrine of the Divine Mercy Eden
Hill, Stockbridge, MA 01262 or to the charity of one’s
choice. For more details on the Shrine of Divine Mercy
visit www.marian.org/shrine

Tough quest to end family homelessness
By STEVE LeBLANC
Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — By now, Massachusetts wasn’t supposed
to have any homeless families.
In 2008, Gov. Deval Patrick set a goal of virtually eliminating
family homelessness in five years. The program was intended
in part to better detect when families were on the verge of falling into homelessness — and then move in swiftly with aid and
support.
Five years later, record numbers of homeless families are
straining the state’s shelter system, with about 2,000 families
finding temporary housing in dozens of hotels and motels
across the state and approximately an equal number staying in
family shelters.
For homeless advocates, shelter operators, state officials and,
most acutely, the homeless themselves, the maddening persistence of the lack of affordable places to live in Massachusetts
can seem intractable.
Patrick and others point to a number of reasons for the surge
in homelessness, from the yearslong economic downturn to a
pullback in federal aid to Massachusetts’ status as a “right to
shelter” place, meaning the state is obligated to find a place to
stay for all those who are homeless.
But even Patrick concedes that simply extending the state’s
existing anti-homelessness strategies isn’t going to work in the
long run.
“We’re going to have to think in some fresh ways rather than
just try to do better what we’re already doing,” Patrick said.
“I’m really worried about this. It’s not just the spike in the
number. It’s what the economy has done to vulnerable people.”
The state already has an array of programs aimed at keeping
families from becoming homeless — and getting them back
into homes when they do.
One is the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition,
or RAFT, program, which offers up to $4,000 a year to help
low-income families that are homeless or at risk of becoming
homeless. In the 2013 fiscal year, the program helped keep
more than 3,000 families from becoming homeless, according
to Aaron Gornstein, Massachusetts undersecretary for housing
and community development.
Another is the HomeBASE program, which provides help
paying rent, utility bills and other expenses so people can stay
in their homes. In 2013, that program helped keep an additional
1,000 families out of shelters, Gornstein said.
The state also has the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program,
a version of the federal Section 8 program, which offers rental
subsidies to tenants and developments.
Yet another strategy is to develop new low-income housing
while preserving the state’s existing affordable housing stock.
Since 2007, the state has created more than 4,000 deeply
subsidized units, including more than 700 in 2013 alone,
according to Gornstein.

The state also has been spending about $100 million each
year to modernize its existing public housing units, rehabbing
and bringing back into service about 400 vacant public housing
apartments in the past two years. Since 2010, the state also has
helped preserve 10,000 privately owned, affordable, subsidized
units that were at risk of being converted into market-rate units.
Still, Gornstein said, daunting challenges remain. He pointed
to the 5,400 families for whom the HomeBASE temporary
rental assistance is ending this fiscal year even as the state
forges ahead with its goal of getting homeless families out of
hotels and shelters.
“The longer a family stays, the more difficult it is to leave,”
he said.
Boston resident Altia Taylor knows the challenges firsthand.
For the past five years, she has bounced from shelters to hotels.
Her current temporary housing situation is ending in January,
and she hopes to land an apartment in a public housing development for herself, her 15-year-old daughter and her 8-year-old
son.
“This long-term instability has me completely out of character that I’m so fed up and overwhelmed,” Taylor, 31, told a
Statehouse committee recently. “If I could figure out a way to
pay market rate, I would. If I could own my own home, I
would. I would have done it a long time ago.”
Those on the front lines of the housing fight say they’re trying to stay upbeat.
Peter Gagliardi, president of HAPHousing, a nonprofit housing agency in Springfield, blamed the housing crisis on stagnant wages, the offshoring of jobs and a minimum wage that
hasn’t kept up with inflation. He said about 200,000 families in
the state are spending more than half their income on rent.
Each time the state chips away at the number of families in
hotels and shelters, he said, the problem gets worse.
“We’re actually spiraling up,” he said. “Not only do we have
to go up the hill, but the hill gets higher.”
Chris Norris, executive director of the Metropolitan Boston
Housing Partnership, pointed to a 2012 study that found that the
vast majority of homeless families in Massachusetts are led by
single mothers with an average income of $8,727. He said a
study of homeless families in the Boston area also found that
just 3 percent originally came from outside Massachusetts.
Norris warned that solving the problem of family homelessness “will be time-consuming and it will be expensive.”
The problem has already become an issue in next year’s governor’s race, with Republican candidate Charlie Baker vowing
to work during his first year in office to eliminate the practice
of placing homeless families in hotels and motels.
Patrick, a Democrat who isn’t seeking re-election, said he
hasn’t read Baker’s plan, but he’s willing to consider any good
ideas.
“If there’s enough detail to put it in place and I think it’s
working, I’ll probably do it before the election,” he said.

Minimum Wage

Anthony J. Calabrese
DALTON, MA - Anthony J. Calabrese, 82, Retired
Chief of the Dalton Police Department, of 194 East
Street, Dalton, died Thursday, January 2, 2014, at his
home. Born in Pittsfield on January 17, 1931, the son of
Paolo A. and Natalina Rosati Calabrese, he was educated
in Dalton schools and was a 1949 graduate of Dalton
High School.
Mr. Calabrese later attended Berkshire
Community College where he was
enrolled in the Police Science Program.
He earned certification in Crime Scene
Science and Photography, Narcotics
Investigation and Search Warrants, and
Firearms. A Korean War veteran, Mr. Calabrese was
inducted into the United States Marine Corps on March
24, 1952. As a corporal, he served a year and a half tour
of duty overseas, and was honorably discharged on
March 23, 1954, having earned the Korean Service
Medal, Navy Occupation Medal, United Nations Service
Medal, and the National Service Medal. He then transferred to the United States Marine Corps Reserve and
served until March 23, 1960. For a few years following
his military duty, he worked as a carpenter.
On March 10, 1964, Mr. Calabrese was appointed to
the Dalton Police Department where he served as a
patrolman. He was promoted to Sergeant in June 1969. In
April 1978, Mr. Calabrese was appointed Chief of Police
and served until his retirement on January 27, 1985. He
was a member of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police
Association. Mr. Calabrese was a communicant of St.
Agnes Church. He was a member of the Benjamin F.
Sullivan Post 155 of the American Legion, the Veterans
of Foreign Wars Post 9566, both in Dalton, as well as the
Marine Corps League. He enjoyed hunting and target
shooting.
Mr. Calabrese’s wife, the former Mary C. Hogan,
whom he married May 31, 1966, in Blessed Sacrament
Church in Holyoke, died June 21, 2010. He is survived by
four nieces, Kathleen A. Hogan-Friguglietti of Westfield,
Anne Bray of Westfield, Marie F. Hogan of Holyoke, and
Judy M. Hogan of West Springfield; four grandnieces and
four grandnephews and two great grandnieces.
Funeral services for Anthony J. Calabrese will be held
Wednesday, January 8, at 10:30 a.m. from Dery-Foley
Funeral Home with a Liturgy of Christian Burial at 11:00
a.m., at St. Agnes Church celebrated by Rev. Christopher
A. Malatesta, Pastor. Burial, with police department and
military honors will follow in Fairview Cemetery. Calling
hours will precede the service from 9:30 to 10:30 at the
Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be
made to Elder Services of Berkshire County, earmarked
for the “Meals on Wheels” program, in care of DeryFoley Funeral Home, 890 East Main Street, Dalton.

THE WESTFIELD NEWS

accomplish its main goal: After all, the
current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour
is, in inflation-adjusted dollars, about
$3.30 less than it was in 1968. “I think
the main question in the 20-year history
of this movement,” Kern laments, “is
why, given the incredibly resilient abiding popularity of raising the minimum
wage, is our minimum wage policy in
the United States so anemic?”
Much of the time, the movement’s
main opposition has come from business
associations and Republican officials,
who have made the argument (increasingly disputed by economists) that raising the minimum wage is a job killer.
But living wage advocates have also
frequently clashed with Democrats,
who’ve had a complicated relationship
with the issue for years. In 1996, when
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley
announced his intention to veto a living
wage ordinance in his city, activists
embarrassed Daley by picketing him at
the Democratic National Convention
there and offering “tours of shame” to
delegates, showing them local businesses that paid below the local living wage
standard. Some advocates still maintain
that Democratic nominee John Kerry
would have won the presidential election
in 2004 if, as they were urging him at the
time, he’d supported a ballot measure in
Florida that raised the state’s minimum
wage. The measure won by 3.1 million
votes, while Kerry lost Florida to George
W. Bush by 381,000 votes. And in the
most recent national election, the issue
again failed to gain traction with
Democratic candidates. “We polled on
the minimum wage back in early 2012
and got numbers off the chart, and we
tried to convince Democrats that it was a
good issue to embrace and to run on,”
says one liberal strategist. “They were
just very skeptical of the data. I think
Democrats were really scared by the
‘job-killer’ term.”
At times, though, Democrats have
managed to overcome the fear that
boosting the minimum wage was bad
politics. As president, Bill Clinton
pushed a minimum wage increase
through Congress in 1996; and in 2007,
Democratic majorities in the House and
Senate passed another minimum wage

Continued from Page 4
hike that, in part because it was attached
to an emergency spending bill for the
Iraq War, President Bush signed. But
those national measures have been so
few over so many years that the net
effect has been a national minimum
wage that year after year results in a
lower standard of living. “We’re saddled
with that now,” says Kern. “We’ve
dipped further back than we have hope
of regaining.”
As a candidate for president in 2008,
Barack Obama—who as a young man
worked as an Alinsky-inspired community organizer in Chicago—ran on the
issue, pledging to raise the federal minimum wage to $9.50 and index it to inflation by the end of 2011. But in his first
term, citing the precarious state of the
economy, he never made it a priority. For
some advocates in the living wage movement, the fact that Obama was trying to
dig the country out of the Great Recession
doesn’t cut it as an excuse for inaction.
And some continued to harbor ill will
even after he recommitted himself to
raising the minimum wage in the first
State of the Union address of his second
term last February. The problem for the
proponents of the minimum wage hike
was that Obama proposed raising it to $9
an hour—which was not only lower than
the $9.50 he’d promised in 2008 but also
lower than the $10.10 figure that Sen.
Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) was planning to
call for in new legislation. “We were
worried that the White House was
already negotiating down the Democrats’
proposal,” Kern says of last year’s proposal.
Unions and groups like the National
Employment Law Project made their
displeasure known and, after a series of
meetings with White House officials led
by National Economic Council director
Gene Sperling, the administration came
around. In November, Obama announced
his support for the $10.10 proposal.
Since then, the White House and
Congressional Democrats have been
plotting with the labor groups—in meetings and conference calls—on how to
make the minimum wage a central issue
in this year’s midterms, not only by
pushing for a higher federal minimum
wage in Congress but also by placing

ballot measures for a higher state minimum wage in states with close Senate or
gubernatorial races, including Arkansas,
Michigan and South Dakota.
Meanwhile, activists in the living
wage movement hope Obama’s attention
represents more than mere political
opportunism. Raising the minimum
wage has long been a popular policy
stance—enjoying public support far
broader than the slightly less than 5 percent of Americans who actually earn it.
But that aside, living wage activists say
the political zeitgeist has changed in
their favor. They point to Occupy Wall
Street, the recent one-day strikes by fastfood workers, the Black Friday protests
outside Wal-Mart, and even Mayor Bill
de Blasio’s election in New York City as
signs that issues like worker rights are
moving toward the center of the larger
public debate, because they tap into the
broader unease about the rapidly growing income gap in America that has
inequality at record highs not seen since
the 1920s.
“I think the resonance is deeper this
time,” says Paul Sonn, a lawyer with the
National Employment Law Project who,
over the last 20 years, has authored many
of the successful living wage ordinances.
“Once we moved out of the recession,
the economy started to grow but most of
the jobs are in low-paying fields. There’s
really a sense this time that we have to
care more about low-wage jobs, they’re
more at the core of our economy than
they were before, and therefore more at
the core of national politics.”
Regardless of how successful this
year’s campaign is or whether Barack
Obama will forge a long-term alliance
with the old lefties who’ve long rallied
round this banner, it’s clear that the living wage fight plays into timely fears
about the unequal opportunities available in post-recession America.
“‘Inequality’ is on people’s lips in a
way that it hasn’t been before,” Kern
says. “The minimum wage gives them a
way to talk about that that’s popular. It’s
not radical for an elected official to support a minimum wage increase. It would
be radical for them to support some of
the other things we want.”

Supreme Court
their assessment of the legal issues the cases
present. Some analysts said the outcry liberal
Catholic columnists like E.J. Dionne and Mark
Shields raised last year over the administration’s attempt to force coverage requirements
on Catholic-affiliated institutions could influence the way Catholics on the court see the
issue — even though the Obama administration has retreated from its initial stand.
“If, with those six Catholic justices on the
court, they start with the mindset that of course
this is about religious freedom and it would let
a Catholic have to provide contraception, that
I think will show its way into the opinions,”
Griffin said.
Some liberal justices could be receptive to
arguments that granting broad religious exemptions, particularly to for-profit employers,

Continued from Page 4
could disrupt not only the contraception open up discrimination against other classes of
requirement in Obamacare but vaccinations people justices like Justice Kennedy have
and other medical procedures. Some employ- shown they think deserve protection,” said
ers might seek to use a broad decision to refuse Gretchen Borchelt of the National Women’s
to observe federal-anti discrimination laws or Law Center.
even laws protecting employees from having
Most analysts say the issues in the cases now
their pensions raided.
before or headed to the court are different than
Some who side with the government in the those in the earlier Obamacare cases, where
cases hope that Justice Anthony Kennedy Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the
might be receptive to the notion that if the court’s liberals to uphold the law’s requirement
court goes too far in embracing religious free- that individuals buy insurance or pay a penalty.
dom rights, that could come at the expense of
However, there’s a chance that Roberts and
gays and lesbians — whose rights he defended other members of the court who are seen as
in the recent same-sex marriage cases — to pro-business, like Justice Samuel Alito, might
discrimination in the workplace.
see arguments against allowing a subset of
“Opening the door to bosses ending birth companies out of regulations that apply widecontrol coverage could also open the door to ly.
… ending other employee protections and
In the view of many lawyers, religious

groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor — the
group of nuns who argued this week that certain requirements could lead to their insurer
paying for contraception for employees of the
order’s nursing homes — have far stronger
arguments for being exempt from provisions
of the law than do for-profit business with
religious owners.
However, the Obama administration contends that the non-profit groups already have a
broad carve-out.
The Justice Department presented a variant
on the parade-of-horribles argument in its filing with the court Friday opposing an injunction that would relieve the Little Sisters from
having to file a form that the group contends
could trigger provision of contraceptives to its
employees.

THE WESTFIELD NEWS

WWW.THEWESTFIELDNEWS.COM/SPORTS

MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2014 - PAGE 9

THE WESTFIELD NEWSSPORTS
Are you
ready
for some
frostbite?
JIM LITKE
AP Sports Columnist
OK, so they’re not who we thought they were.
Every time you see that big snowflake in the
middle of this year’s Super Bowl logo, it suggests
the easiest way to pick the last team standing is to
draw a line through teams from warm-weather
climes and then round up the usual cold-weather
suspects.
The NFL’s opening playoff weekend changed
that.
Neither New Orleans nor San Francisco had won
a game in the cold since 2000 — applying the
32-degree benchmark — and San Diego hadn’t
even played the minimum 10 games in those conditions required to make the list. They not only managed to win; all three did so on the road against
teams — Philadelphia, Green Bay and Cincinnati,
respectively — that ranked Nos. 2-4 on that same
list, and trailed only always-formidable New
England, which wins in bad weather an eye-popping 80 percent of the time.
The biggest weather challenge, though not the
biggest upset, came in Green Bay, where the mercury registered 5 degrees at kickoff, with a wind
chill of minus-10. The 49ers were expected to lean
heavily on their ground game, if only to hold mistakes to a minimum. Instead, they wound up throwing the ball as many times as they ran it, 30 each.
After Phil Dawson’s game-winning kick as time
expired gave San Francisco the win, 49ers coach
Jim Harbaugh seemed almost bothered at questions
about throwing the ball around. He didn’t point out
that his quarterback was the one wearing short
sleeves — Colin Kaepernick was born in Milwaukee
— with plenty of cold-weather experience. Or conversely that Michael Crabtree, the receiver
Kaepernick threw to most often, was born in Texas
and played his high school and college ball there.
Toughness, Harbaugh said finally, wasn’t about
where you grew up or played before.
“People talk about cold weather and it would be
tough to catch balls ... Michael Crabtree catches
everything, It’s unbelievable.” Harbaugh began. “In
the northern snowlands, down to the tropics’ sunny
scenes, he’s catching the football.
“If my life depended on it,” he added a moment
later, “and somebody had to catch the ball, I’d enlist
Michael Crabtree to do it.”
And until this weekend, if Harbaugh and most
others had to choose someone to throw it in similar
conditions, the Saints’ Drew Brees and the Chargers’
Philip Rivers likely wouldn’t be the first names that
come to mind. And to be honest, neither did more
with his arm than was necessary.
Brees handed the ball off plenty in Philadelphia,
and the 10-minute edge in time of possession, coupled with a last-gasp field goal by Shayne Graham
proved decisive in sealing New Orleans’ first-ever
playoff win on the road. Rivers threw even less, just
16 passes in all, and let his defense capitalize on
turnovers by Cincinnati QB Andy Dalton. He
admitted afterward playing that conservatively
didn’t sit well, but also that he learned playing in
lousy weather demanded it.
“The way our defense was playing, as long as we
didn’t have a disaster and we made plays when they
were there,” he admitted afterward, “we were going
to win this game.”
If nothing else, it should prepare the brash quarterback and his teammates heading to Denver next
week, where the weather could be fierce and the
temptation to get into a shootout with the Broncos’
Peyton Manning will be even fiercer. Manning is
0-3 in playoff games in the cold, so he, too, is likely
to be tempted.
“We will be confident,” Rivers said. “We’ve got
to be careful we’re not overconfident.”
That won’t be a problem for Brees. His Saints
head to Seattle, where they figure to get a relative
break from the weather, but not from memories of a
devastating playoff loss there three years ago, plus
a 34-7 beating by the Seahawks less than a month
ago.
“It’s loud, it’s crazy, they’ve got a good thing
going there,” Brees said. “Obviously, they’ve only
lost one game there in the last two years. But having
been there less than a month ago, I think that serves
us well, what to expect, how to prepare for it.

Bombers’ Chris Sullivan (17) faces off against Wachusett’s center as the puck is dropped by the referee. (Photo by Noah
Buchanan)

WHS vs. Wachusett

Connor Sullivan follows through with his shot for Westfield
Saturday night at Amelia Park. (Photo by Noah Buchanan)

WHS’s Adam Hosmer (2) skates with the puck past a Wachusett
player into their zone Saturday. (Photo by Noah Buchanan)

Westfield senior defenseman Nick Aube (20)
takes a shot from inside Wachusett’s zone in
Saturday’s high school hockey game at
Westfield’s Chris Sullivan (17) sprays up some ice while stopping to keep Amelia Park Ice Arena. (Photo by Noah Buchanan)
control of the puck inside of Wachusett’s zone. (Photo by Noah Buchanan)

Berkshire Bank Foundation, NESN team tp to assist Habitat for Humanity
PITTSFIELD, MASS, January 3, 2014 –
Berkshire Bank, America’s Most Exciting
Bank®, and NESN, New England’s most
watched sports network, announced today that
Berkshire Bank Foundation will be donating to
New England Habitat for Humanity affiliates
during NESN’s coverage of the Boston Bruins
2013-14 season through an exciting new initiative. The donation will be connected to the
team’s level of play during the season, and will
directly benefit eleven regional Habitat for
Humanity chapters.
Through the initiative, called “Hockey 4
Housingsm,” Berkshire Bank Foundation will
donate $200 for each successful Boston Bruins
penalty kill during NESN televised games. A
penalty kill is the moment during a hockey
game when one team, who has fewer players

on the ice due to a penalty, prevents the opposing team from scoring. The team has averaged
224 penalty kills per year over the past four
years. In addition to the financial support,
Berkshire Bank employees will help build
Habitat for Humanity homes in communities
across New England where Berkshire Bank
has a presence through the company’s nationally renowned Employee Volunteer Program.
Hockey 4 Housingsm highlights the bank’s
support for housing initiatives and commitment to making a difference in the community.
Hockey 4 Housing sm Aims to Raise $50,000
for Habitat for Humanity
At the conclusion of the season, the total
funds collected through Hockey 4 Housingsm
will be distributed evenly among the eleven
participating New England Habitat for

Humanity chapters. The participating chapters
are located in communities where Berkshire
Bank has an office. The payment of the donations will be made in April 2014 following the
NHL regular season.
Berkshire Bank
Foundation and NESN have set a goal of raising $50,000 for the season, and the tally can be
followed on nesn.com/BerkshireBank as well
as Berkshire Bank Foundation’s social media
pages.
“Berkshire Bank Foundation is pleased to
team up with NESN and provide funding to
eleven Habitat for Humanity chapters around
New England through Hockey 4 Housingsm,”
stated Lori Gazzillo Assistant Director of
Berkshire Bank Foundation. “Buying a home
is one of life’s exciting moments and Habitat
for Humanity helps many families realize the

dream of homeownership, which otherwise
may have not have been possible for them. We
are thrilled to play a role in helping Habitat for
Humanity continue their important work in the
communities we serve.”
About Berkshire Bank Foundation
Through foundation grants to non-profits,
scholarships to students, and employee volunteerism, Berkshire Bank is making a difference. Each year the Foundation donates nearly
$1.5 million to non-profits in the bank’s footprint and employees provide over 37,000
hours of service —all on the company dime.
In 2013, Berkshire Bank was named one of
Massachusetts’ Most Charitable Companies by
the Boston Business Journal. To learn more
about Berkshire Bank Foundation, visit www.
berkshirebank.com/community.

Additional photos and reprints are available at “Photos” on www.thewestfieldnews.com

at Newbury
FRAMINGHAM STATE
at Bridgewater State
at Salem State
WORCESTER STATE
MCLA
at Fitchburg State
at Framingham State
BRIDGEWATER STATE
at Western Connecticut
SALEM STATE
at Worcester State
at MCLA
FITCHBURG STATE
MASCAC Quarterfinals
MASCAC Semi-finals
MASCAC Championship

SUFFOLK
FRAMINGHAM STATE
at Bridgewater State
at Castleton State
at Salem State
WORCESTER STATE
MCLA
at Fitchburg State
at Framingham State
BRIDGEWATER STATE
SALEM STATE
at Worcester State
at MCLA
FITCHBURG STATE
MASCAC Quarterfinals
MASCAS Semifinals
MASCAC Championship

Hard work pays off for Palma
When Westfield State University assistant track and field
coach Junior Williams speaks, Naloti Palma does more than
listen.
A sophomore thrower from Westborough, Palma always
takes notes, using “whatever I have with me,” for future reference when she wants to put those words into action.
On Monday, Williams talked to Palma about completely following through with the shot put, after noticing she was releasing just a little too soon, resulting in a downward motion.
“I’m known for writing things down. I keep a journal, I also
write poetry and my own quotations,” said Palma, who owns
school records in the discus and shot put, both indoors and
outdoors, at Westfield.
One of her quotes, “Success is reserved for those willing to
fight for it,” was displayed on T-shirts worn by the girls’ track
team at Westborough High, where Palma was the runner-up in
the discus at the state outdoor meet as a senior.
A qualifier in the shot put at last spring’s NCAA Division 3
outdoor championships, Palma started the indoor season on a
high note last month at Springfield College.
She was named Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic
Conference’s field athlete of week after placing first in the shot
put (40 feet 4 inches) and third in the weight throw (41-8). Her
shot distance qualified her for the MASCAC, ECAC and
NCAA Division 3 New England championships.
Williams is impressed by Palma’s attention to detail and her
rapid improvement in the weight-lifting room.
“When she came in she was squatting 135 pounds and now

she’s over 320 and that’s one of the biggest jumps I’ve ever
seen,” said Williams, the field events coach at Westfield State.
“In order to throw at your best, you need to have strength in
your lower body as well as your upper body, and Naloti stuck
with it,” Williams said.
“It’s pretty rare when a freshman qualifies for nationals, and
although she didn’t make All-American it was a learning experience for her.”
Palma said being on the national stage was nerve-racking.
“I was completely terrified and hoping not to mess up,” she
said, “but looking back I did pretty well. I was seeded 11th and
that’s where I finished. If I get back there, I’ll definitely be
more comfortable.”
Palma, who has lived in foster homes since she was 10, said
that experience, in retrospect, “was a gift. It has made me more
independent, more accountable for the things that I do, and
driven me to be the best student and athlete I can be. Getting
to nationals was very important to me. It made me realize
again that I can achieve a goal through the work I put in, and
that the coaching that got me there was effective,” she added.
“I wasn’t that into lifting weights in high school but I’ve
embraced it here.”
As a freshman at Westborough High, Palma played on the
girls’ basketball team, but soon switched to track.
“It was just a different feeling. I felt I could experience success both individually and for our team,” said Palma, who set
several throwing records at the high school.
“I remember my best distance prior to states in the discus

Westfield State University sophomore Naloti Palma has
greatly improved her speed and strength in the shot put circle. (File photo by Mickey Curtis)
was 114 feet, and I improved to 122. That’s what I strive for.”
Palma, who wanted to attend college close to home and also
major in criminal justice, found the right fit at Westfield.
She even surprised herself at the first indoor track meet last
season.
“I was hoping to be in the top five in the shot,” she said, “and
wound up winning. I never thought it would happen.”
Westfield head coach Sean O’Brien said it’s customary to see
Palma in the weight room or warming up before the coaches
arrive for practice.
“We’re fortunate and happy to have her in our program,” said
O’Brien. “Naloti wants to be an All-American and she has the
talent and is putting in the work to make it happen.” – Courtesy
of Westfield State

Rematches galore in next NFL playoff round
BARRY WILNER
AP Pro Football Writer
The road was kind in the wild-card round.
The next challenge might be more daunting
for the Saints, 49ers and Chargers.
Not to mention the Colts, the only team to
win at home this weekend.
Not that any of the first-round playoff winners are shying away from the next test.
Rather, their attitude is “Bring it on.”
“They got us the first time,” 49ers All-Pro
linebacker NaVorro Bowman said of the
Carolina Panthers, who won at San Francisco
two months ago. “What’s on our minds is to
get them now. It’s the playoffs, win or go
home.”
Going ahead were the 49ers after a 23-20
victory at frigid Green Bay; New Orleans,
which finally got a postseason win away from
the Big Easy by beating Philadelphia 26-24;
San Diego, a 27-10 winner at Cincinnati,
which had not lost at home all season; and
Indianapolis, a 45-44 victor against Kansas
City thanks to a stunning comeback from a
28-point deficit.
Next Saturday, it’s New Orleans (12-5) at
Seattle (13-3) on Saturday, followed by
Indianapolis (12-5) at New England (12-4).
Sunday’s matchups are San Francisco (13-4)
at Carolina (12-4), then San Diego (10-7) at
Denver (13-3).
All but Colts-Patriots are rematches of a
regular-season meeting. In addition to the
Panthers’ 10-9 win on Nov. 10 at Candlestick
Park, the Seahawks routed the Saints 34-7 in
Seattle, and the Chargers won 27-20 at Denver

Andrew Luck
last month.
“We’re loose, we’re confident, we’re peaking at the right time,” said safety Eric Weddle,
who spearheaded a stingy Chargers defense
against the Bengals. “We are a team to be
dealt with. We’re a confident bunch, especially in the second half, in the fourth quarter.
We feel we’re ready for those situations. The
pressure is not going to get to us.”
What’s ahead in the playoffs:
Saints at Seahawks
New Orleans played its worst game of the
season on Dec. 2 at Seattle, which seemed
invincible at home back then. But the
Seahawks showed some vulnerability at noisy
CenturyLink Field by losing their next home
game to Arizona.
That should encourage the Saints, but only
if they can replicate the pressure the Cardinals’

defense put on quarterback Russell Wilson.
The Saints shut down the league’s top rushing
team in Philadelphia, and Seahawks running
back Marshawn Lynch has not been very
dynamic the last six weeks.
But there’s also the theory that the Seahawks
were helped by sustaining their first home
loss with second-year QB Wilson at the helm,
and they won’t be slipping up again.
“When you face an opponent previously in
the season, you have a better idea of what
you’re going against,” New Orleans defensive
tackle Brodrick Bunkley said. “It helps you
prepare for it a little bit better.”
Colts at Patriots
Here’s a juicy one: Andrew Luck, the new
comeback king among quarterbacks, against
three-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady.
“There’s no question he’s a complete football player and one of the top quarterbacks in
this league already,” Patriots coach Bill
Belichick said Sunday. He meant Luck.
For that matchup to matter, though, the
Colts must avoid the slow starts that plagued
them this season. Does anyone believe they
can fall behind by four touchdowns or so
against the Patriots and then win?
New England’s once sieve-like defense has
improved recently, and witnessing what the
Chiefs did to Indy’s defense even without
Jamaal Charles should make Colts fans shudder.
49ers at Panthers
San Francisco’s versatility and experience
showed at Green Bay. Teams that win in the
worst of conditions while not playing close to

their best are particularly dangerous.
The Niners won’t need to worry about wind
chills at Carolina. They will need to find a
way to move the ball against a Panthers
defense that shut them down two months ago.
This has the look of a low-scoring contest,
but with San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick
and Carolina’s Cam Newton bringing so
much creativity and energy at quarterback, the
scoreboard might get lit up.
“Colin Kaepernick, I think we can all agree,
is a clutch performer,” coach Jim Harbaugh
said.
Chargers at Broncos
These two original AFL franchises have
met 108 times, but never in the postseason.
Denver won at San Diego in November by
eight points, then lost at home a month later to
the Chargers by seven. San Diego has won
five in a row, barely sneaking into the playoffs, but then handling the Bengals relatively
easily Sunday.
For the Chargers to stay close to the
Broncos’ record-setting offense led by Peyton
Manning, they will need their own quarterback, Philip Rivers, to make lots of big plays.
Plus, Denver is not going to forget how it
posted the AFC’s best record a year ago, then
flopped against Baltimore in its first postseason chance.
“We will be confident,” said Rivers, who
was 12 of 16 for 128 yards with a touchdown
and no interceptions on a rainy, 40-degree
afternoon in Cincinnati. “We’ve got to be
careful we’re not overconfident, which we
won’t be.”

Cheap Brother
Dear Annie: My brother and his wife recently stayed with us
for nine months. He did some part-time work every now and
then. His wife refused to find a job and mostly stayed home.
My wife and I work long hours. We also then had to do the
grocery shopping, cooking and taking care of our kids afterward. During this time, my brother and his wife never spent a
penny on food or anything else. We politely said that we think
it is time for them to find their own place and move out. A few
hours later, they left screaming and shouting at us. We were
speechless.
My brother says we are cheap because we asked them to
leave. What do I tell him? Please help. -- Cheap Brother
Dear Brother: Listen closely: You did nothing wrong. Your
brother and his wife are first-class freeloaders. They took
advantage of your generosity, making no effort to contribute to
their upkeep. They would have allowed you to support them
financially for the rest of their lives. They are angry because
they couldn’t bamboozle you longer than nine months, which is
plenty long enough. People who take advantage of others are
always the first to cry “foul” when things don’t go their way.
We know you care about your relationship with your brother,
but nothing will make him happy short of letting him move
back in. Please ignore him. Do not defend yourself against his
accusations. Do not, under any circumstances, let him guilt you
into helping him out again unless it’s to help him find a fulltime job. Simply say as calmly as possible, “I’m sorry things
didn’t work out for you.” Repeat as necessary.
Dear Annie: I’m still angry about something. The day after
Thanksgiving was trash pickup in my neighborhood. Lo and
behold, sticking out of my trash container was a Christmas card
from my recycling collector, complete with his name and
address. Two days later, I found the same type of card tucked
into my newspaper from our carrier. This one included a mailing envelope. The next week, it was the garbage man.
I know we should remember these people during the holidays, and I have no problem showing my appreciation. But it’s
long past Christmas, and I have yet to hear any of them say
“thank you” to me. Shouldn’t they? How hard is it to write the
words “thank you” on the same type of card that they managed
to give me in search of a tip?
I’ve worked in the service industry for years and have always
acknowledged a gift. Am I expecting too much? -- Connecticut
Dear Connecticut: Not at all. It is simply good manners to
say thank you, and no one is exempt. Anyone who receives a
gift, including the newspaper carrier and the trash collector,
should acknowledge it either in person or by note if they expect
to endear themselves to their clientele the following holiday
season.
Dear Annie: I totally agree with “I Need Nice Clothes, Too.”
There may be more large-sized clothes than before, but she’s
right about how ugly they are. Most of them look like something you’d use to upholster a sofa. No one wants those loud
colors and patterns, and some of them are covered with sequins.
Why not just put a flashing light on them?
Here in Canada, I suspect we have less of a selection than you
do in the States. Some of our biggest retailers continue to feature small departments with plus sizes and the ugliest things
you’ve ever seen. It’s probably why you see plus-size women
wearing clothes that are too small for them. I’m -- Waiting for
Nice Clothes, Too

HINTS FROM HELOISE
PET PAL
Dear Readers: Allie K. in Van
Wert, Ohio, sent in a picture of her
white cat, Squeak, sleeping on her
owner’s desk. To see Squeak’s picture, go to my website, www.
Heloise.com, and click on “Pets.”
-- Heloise
LEARNING CURVE
Dear Heloise: To help my son
learn his letters, I came up with a
strategy that I think will help others:
We focused on only one letter a
week. The first week, our letter was A. I made food into the
shape of an A, I pointed out things that started with the letter,
and we did crafts making the letter A. Anything to help him
learn that letter. At the very end of the week, we reviewed the
letters we had already learned. -- H.E. in San Antonio
EASY RIDE
Dear Heloise: I am used to traveling a long distance in a car
to see family, so I know to take a pillow for my back. This last
time, I cut two holes in the pillowcase and tied string through
the holes to loop it over my headrest so the pillow stays in
place. Now when I refuel on gas or stop for food, the pillow
does not fall or get thrown about. -- Marcia in Nebraska
RECYCLE
Dear Heloise: After the Christmas tree comes down for the
year, reuse your tinsel icicles as gift stuffing. -- Carolyn M. in
Kentucky
(c)2013 by King Features Syndicate Inc.

THE WESTFIELD NEWS

www.thewestfieldnews.com

TVHighlights

show chronicles
a daring plot in
which a seemingly rogue FBI
agent (McDermott)
takes
the
Pres-

Dylan McDermott
stars in “Hostages”

today

The Bachelor
(40) 4

cide which of the women he’d
like to get to know better.

8:00 p.m.

Hostages

Sean Lowe surprises new Bachelor Juan Pablo in this season
premiere. After getting some
advice from Lowe, Juan Pablo
meets 27 women who vie for
his affection. He’ll have to de-

(67) 3

9:00 p.m.

After a brief hiatus, Dylan McDermott and Toni Collette return with a vengeance in this
two-hour series finale. The

MONDAY EVENING
C

PBS

WGBY
(57)

CBS

WSHM
(67)

ABC

WGGB
(40)

NBC

WWLP
(22)

FOX

WGGB
(40.2)

NBC

WVIT
(30)

WDMR

PBS

WEDH
(24)

WSBK
(38)

CW

WBQT
(13)

BET

UNI

6

BBC
World
2
News:
America
CBS 3
News at
3 6:00
p.m.
ABC 40
News
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6

6:30

PM

ABC
World
News

Family
Guy

NBC CT NBC
News at Nightly
News

10 6 p.m.

Decisi-

11 ones

BBC
World

Nightly PBS NewsHour
Business Providing in-depth
analysis of current
Report
America
events.
Two and Two and The Big The Big
a Half
a Half
Bang
Bang
14 Men
Men
Theory Theory
King of Clevela- Seinfeld
H. 'Flush nd 'Who 'The
Done Did Cartoon'
Power'
It?'

16 With

8

8:30

PM

9

PM

9:30

10

PM

10:30 11

Rules
'Jeff's
New
Friend'

Antiques
Roadshow 'Boise
(Hour One)' (N)

Eye on the Sixties Rowland
Scherman captured some of
the most transformational
political events of the 60s.
WBZ
Seinfeld Seinfeld
'The
'The
News
Cartoon' Movie'

Doc
Martin
'Better
the Devil'
The
Office
'Pilot'

Rules of Seinfeld CommEng 'The 'The
unity
Birthday Movie'
Deal'

Community

Antiques Rd. 'Tulsa
(Hour One)' Carved
Chinese rhinoceros
horns are appraised.
Law & Order:
SVU 'Desperate'
Detectives hope a
S.V.U. 'Tortured' A
victim's son will
torture victim is
lead to a murderer. found dead.
Hart of 'Who Says Beauty and Beast
You Can't Go Home' 'Who Am I?' Vincent
Zoe plans to move has changed after
to New York City.
being abducted.

With a serial killer on the loose,
the squad must work quickly to
track the culprit down before
anyone else is murdered in this
new episode. Also, a chess
game proves to be dangerous.
Mary McDonnell, G.W. Bailey
and Tony Denison star.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Monday,
Jan. 6, 2014:
This year you often are very sensitive
to others, and you express empathy with
ease. You also frequently can be found
playing the role of cheerleader, encouraging those around you to go for their
dreams. If you are single, you are likely
to meet someone very significant to your
life’s history. You will know when you
meet this person. If you are attached, the
two of you enjoy each other’s company,
and you seem to have a psychic connection. You know what the other is thinking. ARIES often grinds on your nerves.
The Stars Show the Kind of Day
You’ll Have: 5-Dynamic; 4-Positive;
3-Average; 2-So-so; 1-Difficult

SCARY GARY

Mark Buford

B.C. Mastroianni and Hart

DOGS of C-KENNEL Mick and Mason Mastroianni

ONE BIG HAPPY Rick Detorie

ON a CLAIRE DAY Carla Ventresca and Henry Beckett

ZACK HILL John Deering and John Newcombe

ARIES (March 21-April 19)
HHH You might have a firmer grasp
on what is happening than the person
who informs you of what is going on.
This person likes to feel important. Say
little. Play it low-key, and you will
gather more information. Tonight: Only
what you want.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
HHHH Zero in on what you want
during the morning. Don’t hesitate. You
might need to consider how you’d like
to proceed with a different matter in the
afternoon. Consider your options carefully and discuss them with someone
you often brainstorm with. Tonight: Not
to be found.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
HHHH Your directness is more
desirable than you think. Stay in touch
with your goals as discussions ensue.
You can identify with others. As a result,
you could lose your ability to stay centered. Do not allow this to happen.
Tonight: In the middle of the action.
CANCER (June 21-July 22)
HHH You might want to hear the
other side of an argument. Though you
still might not agree with what is being
said, you could see a way of incorporating two ideas that seem in opposition but
actually have the same basis. Tonight:
Till the wee hours.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)
HHHH A close associate might have
a lot to share. Encourage this person to
express his or her intuitive sense more
often. You will be able to understand an
issue in a new way because of what is
shared with you. Proceed accordingly.
Tonight: Make plans for the near future.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
HHHH Rethink a personal decision,
especially if someone close to you offers
a new insight. Do nothing to damage the
situation, and if possible, give yourself
some breathing room. Put this decision
on hold for now. Tonight: Have an
important discussion first.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
HHHH Understand what you are
doing and why. Your need to handle a
matter regarding real estate or your personal life is legitimate. Once you clear
up this issue, you will find the right
direction for you to head in. Tonight:
The only answer is “yes.”
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
HHHH Your creativity seems to be
focused on a key issue. By the afternoon, your imaginative streak could fall
flat or not be as helpful. Your initial idea
will prove to be the right one to pursue.
Others will be more enthusiastic than
you had expected. Tonight: Remain
playful.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
HHH Touch base with a family member who has a very different perspective
from you about a domestic matter.
Recognize what is happening with a
loved one, as he or she might want you
to be more involved with an important
project. Tonight: Forget tomorrow.
Enjoy today!
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
HHH You will admire what a close
friend thinks about a controversial issue.
This person’s neutrality touches you
deeply. You might wonder what is needed to make a certain situation easier to
handle. Discuss the situation with this
person. Tonight: A must appearance.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
HHHH You could see a situation in a
much more relatable and viable way
than you had in the past. Recognize the
change in your perspective, and explain
it in a conversation with one of the parties involved. This will help ease communication between you. Tonight: Hang
out.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)
HHH When handling your finances,
it would be wise to make a decision
regarding your limits. What is important

Cryptoquip

Crosswords

to you? The holidays could have wreaked havoc on your budget. Take this opportunity to recalibrate your spending. Tonight:
Make a favorite meal.

PAGE 14 -MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2014

www.thewestfieldnews.com

THE WESTFIELD NEWS

The Cape Ann
Museum and the
Thacher Island
Association each
received $10,000
from CPA grants
in the two
communities for
phase two of the
lens preservation
project.

Gloucester, Rockport work to preserve giant lens
GAIL MCCARTHY
Gloucester Daily Times
GLOUCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A joint
effort to preserve a mammoth lighthouse lens
that assisted Cape Ann mariners for more than
120 years, has received a boost through two
Community Preservation Act grants, approved
in Gloucester and Rockport.
The Cape Ann Museum and the Thacher
Island Association each received $10,000
from CPA grants in the two communities for
phase two of the lens preservation project. The
two organizations teamed up to return a
Fresnel lens, which used to sit atop one of the
Thacher Island twin lighthouses, to Cape Ann.
The lens — which is 10 feet tall and 6 feet
in diameter — will have a permanent home
when the Cape Ann museum reopens this year
after major renovations and a redesign of its
galleries.
The Gloucester City Council recently
approved the city’s CPA awards, which included the museum’s application for $10,000 for
restoration, preservation and exhibition of the
Fresnel Lens, Phase II. Rockport’s Town
Meeting approved the other CPA grant in
September.
Sandy Ronan, a member of the Gloucester
Community Preservation Committee, noted
that CPA officials statewide were eager to see
CPA funds used for collaborations among
communities. The money for any CPA projects is generated through voter-approved
property tax surcharges of up to 3 percent per
year, combined with a partial state match
drawn from property deeds fees.
The 2,000-pound lens was made in Paris in
1860 and is composed of more than 1,000
glass prisms set in a bronze frame. In the
1850s, most of America’s lighthouses received
these lenses.
For many years, the Thacher Island lens was
on display at the U.S. Coast Guard museum in
New London, Conn., before it was put into
storage. Cape Ann Museum director Ronda
Faloon explained that there are two phases to
the Thacher Island Fresnel Lens project, which
has an overall cost of approximately $200,000.

The first, which was undertaken by the
museum working with the Thacher Island
Association, was to bring the lens back to
Cape Ann — a mission achieved last May. The
museum hired trained “lampists” to install it
temporarily in museum’s Maritime Gallery
until a new gallery is completed.
Each organization applied for CPA funds to
support Phase II, which is to reinstall the lens
in the new, permanent gallery at the museum.
That work includes hiring the lampists to
finalize the restoration, which means reworking the metal framing, focusing the prisms and
performing the final glazing, as well as fabricating a permanent base for the lens.
The new gallery will have proper climate
control, lighting, fire protection and security
as required by the United States Coast Guard.
Many other educational materials will go
along with the exhibit, including the stories
related to the lens, the history of the Fresnel
Lens, the history of Thacher Island an overview of all Cape Ann’s lighthouses and more,
said Faloon.
“We appreciate the support of the CPA committees in each of our communities,” said
Faloon. “We are also grateful for the support
received from private foundations, thus far.”
Paul St. Germain, president of the Thacher
Island Association, talked about the work
done in the fall when the lampists went to
Thacher Island in October to remove the
6-foot diameter cast-iron lens base.
“This came out in about 12 large pieces,
which we then had sandblasted and repainted
in the original 1861 hunter green color. This
base now sits in storage awaiting reassembly
and mounting under the lens,” he said. “We
are also working on a 15-minute video on the
history of Thacher Island, which will be part
of the museum’s exhibit.”
St. Germain said both the association and
the museum have worked hard to raise money
for the project, which is rooted in Cape Ann’s
history. Both nonprofit organizations will continue to accept contributions for the project.

CLASSIFIED
To Advertise 413-562-4181 • CT 860-745-0424

DEADLINE: 2PM THE DAY BEFORE

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0001 Legal Notices
January 6, 13, 2014

0001 Legal Notices

0110 Lost & Found

January 6, 13, 2014

TOWN OF SOUTHWICK
CITY OF WESTFIELD
PLANNING BOARD
PLANNING BOARD
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
COMMON DRIVEWAY
MORATORIUM
The Westfield Planning Board
will conduct a Public Hearing on
Notice is hereby given in accord- January 21, 2014, at 7:00 P.M.
ance with the provision of M.G.L. in City Council Chambers, MuniChapter 40A, Section 5, that the cipal Building, 59 Court Street,
Planning Board will hold a Pub- Westfield, MA on an application
lic Hearing on January 21, 2014 submitted by the City of Westat 7:45 p.m. for a moratorium on field/Council on Aging for a Specommon driveways until a Zon- cial Permit and Site Plan Aping Bylaw on common driveway proval per Sections 3-50.4(5), 4is established for the Town of 140 & 6-10.1 of the Zoning OrSouthwick. The proposed bylaw dinance and a Stormwater Manis a temporary moratorium to be agement Permit per Section 16put in place for a period not to 109 of the Code of Ordinances
exceed two years, while the to allow for construction of a new
Planning Board develops a Senior Center building with a reCommon Driveway Bylaw. duced rear yard setback and asA copy of the application may be sociated parking and site iminspected in the Town Hall Plan- provements. The property is locning Board office during office ated at 45 Noble St. (Map 17
Parcel 12) and zoned Residhours.
ence A. The application is availAny person interested or wish- able for public inspection during
ing to be heard on the applica- regular business hours at the
tion should appear at the time Planning Department and at
www.cityofwestfield.org.
and place designated.
Doug Moglin, Chairperson
Southwick Planning Board

Hyper • Local

It’s not a new idea. In fact, The Westfield News has been providing
readers with “hyper local” news coverage of Westfield, Southwick, and
the Hilltowns all along. Television, radio and regional newpapers only
provide fleeting coverage of local issues you care about. TV stations and
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aren’t able to provide in-depth coverage of smaller markets anymore.
But, day in and day out, The Westfield News provides consistant
coverage of the stories you need to know about, that are important to
your city, town, neighborhood and home.

TOWN OF SOUTHWICK
PLANNING BOARD
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
COMMON DRIVEWAY
TIMOTHY'S AUTO SALES.
MORATORIUM
Stop by and see us! We might
have exactly what you're lookNotice is hereby given in accord- ing for, if not, left us find it for
ance with the provision of M.G.L. you! Bartlett Street, Westfield.
Chapter 40A, Section 5, that the (413)568-2261. Specializing in
Planning Board will hold a Pub- vehicles under $4,000.
lic Hearing on January 21, 2014
at 7:45 p.m. for a moratorium on
common driveways until a Zoning Bylaw on common driveway
is established for the Town of
Southwick. The proposed bylaw
is a temporary moratorium to be
put in place for a period not to
exceed two years, while the
Planning Board develops a
Common Driveway Bylaw.

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SALE

A copy of the application may be
inspected in the Town Hall Planning Board office during office
hours.
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and place designated.

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TOWN OF SOUTHWICK
DPW DIVISION

TEMPORARY
POSITION AS SOLID
WASTE/HEAVY
EQUIPMENT
OPERATOR
The Department of Public
Works Transfer Station Division is seeking a temporary
employee for a Solid Waste
Laborer/Heavy Equipment
Operator. Candidates must be
able bodied, 18 years of age,
have an active Massachusetts Driver’s License, CDL
License, Hoisting License and
Heavy Equipment Operator
License. Candidate must also
be willing to work at outdoor
job related activities. Interested individuals may obtain a
copy of the Town Employment Application online at
www.southwickma.org or Position Description and Town
Employment Application by
contacting the Selectmen’s
Office (413)569-5995.
Applications are due by January 16, 2014, by 12:00 P.M.,
to Board of Selectmen’s Office, 454 College Highway,
Southwick, MA 01077.
AA/EOE/ADA employer

RECEPTIONIST/CLERICAL.
subject line. Multi-lingual candiExperience
preferred
or entry
dates are encouraged
to apply.
level and training considered for
part time position. Candidate
Community
Action iscommunicacommitted to
must
have strong
building
and maintaining askills,
diversea
tion
and organizationals
workforce.
working
knowledge of Microsoft
Office (Word) applications, and
high energy.
Please fax resume
AA/EOE/ADA
and salary requirements to
(413)569-5854.
www.communityaction.us

COMPUTER HELP AVAILABLE. In
home training. Network setup, data re- GUTTER CLEANING. Get then clean
covery and much more. For more infor- ed before the FREEZE!! Clean, flush
and check for leaks. Call Matt
mation call John (413)568-5928.
(413)777-8381.